The Effects of Korean DASH Diet Education with Calcium/Vitamin D Supplements on Nutrient Intakes, Food Consumption, Bone Turnover Markers and Bone Mineral Density among Korean Elderly Women

Purpose: This study was aimed to investigate the effects of the nutritional intervention program including DASH diet education and calcium/vitamin D supplements in Korean elderly women. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study employing non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The experimental group (n=26) was given DASH diet education and supplements (calcium 1200mg and vitamin 800 IU) while the control group (n=16) was given only general health consults. After the interventions, differences were analyzed in nutrient intake, bone turnover markers and bone mineral density between the two groups. Results: After one year, bone mineral density was found reduced in both groups, but showed higher levels (p=.003) in the experimental group than the control group. After research, nutrient intakes of participants improved generally, yet there was no significant difference between the two groups. The experimental group was divided into subgroups after interventions according to the level of calcium intake, and bone density and bone markers were compared between the subgroups. In a subgroup whose calcium intake was in the normal range, bone mineral density was significantly high (p=.002) while CTx and osteocalcin were significantly low (p=.003, p=.006, respectively). Conclusion: This study is significant in that it provided a nutritional intervention program for one year to elderly women who are susceptible to osteoporosis and severely low in dietary calcium intake and it proved to be effective.