Community Kitchen: Centralised community cooking for elderly in Pondok Paya Ular Pasir Mas, Kelantan

Abstract

Community kitchen or meals on wheels is a common community service in developed countries which aimed to improve the nutritional situations of the elderly. A pilot project for a community kitchen was carried out in Pondok Paya Ular, Pasir Mas, Kelantan involving 14 elderly females. Members of the community participated in organising the kitchen. The aim of the study is to determine the viability of the community kitchen, its cost-effectiveness and the improvement of nutritional situations of the elderly following centralised cooking with a set of menu on a sufficient balance diet. Two meals (lunch and dinner) were provided for six days a week for a period of four months. It was found that the elderly enjoyed eating in group and their nutritional status showed some improvement in terms of body Mass Index (BMI), haemoglobin level and haematoctrit. The average cost of running the community kitchen was RM3.20 per person per day.