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Doctoral Student
The University of Alabama
Healthy Eating Index (HEI) Scores are Higher among Older Adults Who Do Not Consume Frozen Meals than Frequent Consumers: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015–2018.
This study utilized the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) to assess dietary quality by the frequency of frozen meal consumption among community-dwelling older adults. My role as a principle investigator in this project was to conduce the secondary data analysis, interpreted the results, and disseminated the findings. We found that frequent consumption of frozen meals is associated with reduced diet quality among community-dwelling older adults. The findings of this study have positive impact by helping to inform health care providers, such as registered dietitians, that older adults may benefit from nutrition education on selecting healthy options when eating frozen meals. Additionally, participation in nutrition assistance programs for older adults may promote improved diet quality. Moreover, this study has prepared me well for research publication in the academic journals.
a) Thaitrong P, Knol LL, Douglas JW. Healthy Eating Index (HEI) Scores Are Higher among Older Adults Who Do Not Consume Frozen Meals than Frequent Consumers: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of NHANES 2015-2018. Accepted for poster presentation at the American Society for Nutrition, June 2022.