Effects of intervention using 3 methods combining nutrition education, health management and daily supplementation of one Nutrients tablet (beta-carotene 1 mg, vit. E 10mg, vit. C 70mg) for old people have been studied in Thai Binh province. The case--controlled community-based intervention design was applied. 243 subjects aged from 60-69 years old were divided into 2 groups: Control group (n=121): no intervention
the intervention group (n=122) received 3 methods combined. After 3 months of interventions, anthropometric indicators as BMI, body fat were significantly increased compared to control group. Similarly, Hb, beta-carotene, retinol levels, the anti-oxidant capacity (MDA level) were significantly improved compared with the beginning and with the control group (p 0.05). The effective index of intervention was 29.9 percent for the improvement of anemia, 17.7 percent for low beta-carotene, 69.4 percent for low retinol, and 45 percent for low vitamin E. There was negative association between the reduction of MDA levels and thc increase of retinol, beta-carotene: but not with the change of vitamin E level. This intervention could be expanded to larger communities to improve health status of old people.