International Journal of Advanced Scientific and Technical Research Issue 6 volume 1, Jan. –Feb. 2016 Available online on http://www.rspublication.com/ijst/index.html ISSN 2249-9954 ©2016 RS Publication, rspublicationhouse@gmail.com Page 404 Frailty in Relation to Poor Dietary Intake among Institutionalized Elders in Alexandria, Egypt Dalia I Tayel 1* , Heba M El-Kady 2 1 Assistant Professor of Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt 2 Assistant Professor of Geriatric Health, Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt *Corresponding Author: Dalia I Tayel ABSTRACT Frailty is highly prevalent with increasing age. The purpose of the study was to assess frailty and its association with nutrient intake of institutionalized elderly. A cross sectional design was used. A total of 312 older persons were equally allocated and randomly selected from twelve elderly homes in Alexandria, Egypt. Personal data (age, sex, marital status, and educational status), frailty criteria (unintentional weight loss, self- reported exhaustion, muscles weakness, slow walking speed, and low physical activity), health characteristics (body mass index classification, chronic diseases, and intake of medications), and dietary intake of nutrients were collected by interviewing technique. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, and mid-arm, calf, waist and hip circumferences) were taken at the time of the interview. Frailty was prevalent among 58.7% of elders (38.3% of males and 75.4% of females). Frail elders had significant lower intake than non-frail ones of energy (1340.9±35.7 and 1540.6±46.3 kcal), protein (54.1±1.6 and 58.8±2.1 g), iron (4.7±0.3 and 6.5±0.4 mg), and vitamin A (266.4±31.6 and 385.2±62.6 IU). Frailty in institutionalized elderly is associated with poor intake of energy, protein, iron and vitamin A. Improvement of nutritional intake for institutionalized older people is certainly an important factor to reduce frailty. Key words: Nutrition, Elderly, Frailty. INTRODUCTION Frailty is a highly relevant geriatric syndrome [1]. The term ‘‘frailty’’ is used loosely to describe a range of conditions in older people, including general debility and cognitive impairment. There is no clear consensus on the definition of frailty; however, it is proposed that frailty comprises a collection of biomedical factors which influences an individual’s physiological state in a way that reduces his or her capacity to withstand environmental stresses [2]. A subset of older people is at risk of becoming frail; these are vulnerable, prone to dependency and have reduced life expectancy. These health outcomes contribute to an increased demand for medical and social care, and are associated with increased economic costs [3].