Diet quality of non-institutionalized elderly women from a Brazilian southern capital city: low consumption of saturated fats, sodium, whole grains, and cardioprotective fats

Abstract

Introduction: The elderly population is susceptible to changes in nutritional status due to factors related to socioeconomic and physiological changes; however, studies that evaluated the current dietary status of the elderly in Brazil are still scarce. Objective: To evaluate the quality of the diet of non-institutionalized elderly women from a capital city in southern Brazil. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, with 174 convenience sampled elderly women. Food intake was assessed by means of a three-day dietary record. Diet quality was assessed through the Diet Quality Index - Revised (IQD-R) adapted for the Brazilian population. Results: This work showed that 56.9% (n=99), 40.8% (n=71), and 2.3% (n=4) of the diets of the participants were classified as "needs modification", "healthy", and "inadequate", respectively. The mean score obtained through the IQD-R was 62.5 (± 9.6), with a minimum of 30.2 points and a maximum of 84.9 points. In the analysis of food group consumption, there was a low score for saturated fat (9.96±0.50), mono and polyunsaturated fats (1.08±2.21), whole grains (1.7±1.54), sodium (7.31±2.27), and a higher score for the total grains group (4.61±0.54). Conclusion: Most of the elderly women assessed needed improvement in the quality of their diets, with emphasis on the consumption of whole grains and mono and polyunsaturated fats, but with adequate intake of saturated fat and sodium

Keywords

• envelhecimento. saúde do idoso. consumo de alimentos. nutrição do idoso.