Food and nutritional risk factors in the elderly suffering from diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Introduction: diabetes mellitus is considered one of the epidemics of the century, associated with inadequate lifestyles. Objective: to describe the risk factors related to nutrition and the nutritional status of patients with diabetes mellitus attended at the Hermanos Cruz polyclinic during 2017. Method: an observational, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between July and December 2017 at Hermanos Cruz polyclinic. From a target group of 1782 older adults with diabetes mellitus, a sample of 123 was randomly selected. A survey was applied, giving nutritional and food counseling, assessing anthropometry data, and the evaluation of eating habits and blood glucose measurement were performed. Data processing was carried out with the SPSS software package version 21.0. Medical ethics approaches were respected. Results: the average age was 65 years, women predominated (61,0 %); 89,4 % had not received counseling by a nutritionist, while 63,4 % had malnutrition due to excess. High carbohydrate intake (90,2 %), daily consumption of protein sources of high biological value (67,5 %), and the habit of sweetening with sugar (96,7 %) predominated in eating habits. The blood glucose values behaved over the recommended limits. Conclusions: there was a high prevalence of nutrition and nutritional risk factors in the sample studied, which resulted in the differentiated awareness that must be assumed with the Nutritional Counseling, taking into consideration that the causes mentioned above are a cause of complications in diabetic patients.

Keywords

• factores de riesgo
• alimentación
• nutrición en salud pública
• diabetes mellitus