Application of a Nutritional Counseling Program on the Frailty of Older Adults in the Mexican Population

Overview

In the present study, the COM-B model is intended to be used as a central axis in the planning of the nutritional counseling intervention, since it proposes that behavioral modification is conditioned by the capacity, opportunity and motivation of the person, 3 basic components that can be addressed with nutritional education and goal-setting strategies, self-monitoring and social support. The intervention will consist of applying nutritional counseling in older adults with frailty syndrome to measure the effect on indicators of this syndrome such as nutritional status, handgrip strength, protein consumption and physical activity.

Clinical trial with intervention group and control group that include men and women over 60 years of age with frailty or risk of suffering it according to the frailty scale INTERVENTION: The COM-B system is based on 3 main pillars that appear in the initials of its name, being the C for "capacity", the O for "opportunity" and the M for "motivation". The behavior of the person is attributed to these in such a way that if they have the capacity, motivation and opportunity, the strategies used for behavior change will be more effective. Based on this theory, the investigators support the intervention of the study in which the capacity of the participants will be developed through nutritional education, motivation through goal setting and self-monitoring, and the opportunity for social support that will be provided through this project at no cost to users of the DIF Zapopan Metropolitan Center for the Elderly. Regarding the establishment of goals, 10 important behaviors will be worked on to prevent or combat frailty, which promote adequate protein consumption, balance in the distribution of nutrients, avoid prolonged periods of fasting by encouraging the consumption of healthy snacks, decreased consumption of ultra-processed foods, increasing the consumption of plant-based foods and performing strength exercises. The adherence to these behaviors will be self-monitored on a weekly basis through a format (see annex 4) that each person will receive and that is inspired by the strategy used by Beeken and collaborators in the "ten top tis" project where the effectiveness in behavioral modification through goal setting and self-monitoring. Nutritional education was carried out in group sessions of 40 minutes having a total of 10 workshops which provided practical theoretical tools to each of the behaviors to be monitored, in this way each workshop addressed a specific behavior. The intervention will be aimed at qualitatively and quantitatively modifying eating habits, emphasizing protein consumption and modifying physical activity habits, limiting sedentary behaviors.