Dietary Patterns among Older People and the Associations with Social Environment and Individual Factors in Taiwan: A Multilevel Analysis

Individual factors relating to dietary behaviors are widely explored. However, the effects of social environment on dietary patterns for the older people are less explored. The purpose of this study was to identify dietary patterns among older people in Taiwan and to examine the relationship of dietary patterns with social environment and individual factors. The current study used the 2013–2016 Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan. The sample was representative at the national and city levels. Only those who were aged 55 years old and above were included for analysis (n = 2922); the mean age of the participants was 68.62 (SD = 8.76). The city-level data, including population characteristics, food availability, and age-friendly city indicators, were obtained from the open data and survey report of government. Three dietary patterns were identified: high protein-vegetable (41.6%), high sweets and low protein-vegetables (37.9%), and high viscera and fats (20.5%). The results of multilevel multinomial logistic regressions showed that marital status, economic status, education, drinking alcohol, dietary belief, living a the city with more food availability, and bus accessibility were related to dietary patterns. Dietary patterns are related to the individual-level factors and social environment. Healthy dietary beliefs and age-friendly environments are beneficial to promoting healthy dietary patterns.