Programa UBB Saludable, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y de los Alimentos, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chillan 3780000, Chile.
Dirección de Investigación, Instituto Nacional de Geriatría, Mexico City 10200, Mexico.
Nutrients. 2021 Dec 23;14(1):36. doi: 10.3390/nu14010036.
As the population ages, greater attention to age-related health problems related to diet and lifestyles is needed. Here, we sought to evaluate the associations between demographic and clinical characteristics and food insecurity with the quality of diet of non-institutionalized elderly from a southern Chilean commune. We performed an analytical cross-sectional study in a sample of 376 older adults. Nutritional status was evaluated through anthropometric measurements. Quality of diet was determined by the healthy eating index (HEI), obtained through the frequency of consumption questionnaire. Socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle variables were also collected. Ordinal logistic and Poisson regression models were applied to study associations with quality of diet. The sample consisted of more women (81.6%) than men (18.4%). Most older adults were found to live in a situation of vulnerability or poverty (82.4%), with most having food security (65.7%). According to the HEI, only 14.1% had a good quality of diet, 83.8% had diet in need of improvement, and 2.1% had an unhealthy diet. There was an association of food insecurity and cardiovascular risk (according to waist circumference) with lower quality of diet categories. However, an association with the unhealthy quality of diet category was not confirmed with Poisson regression analysis, which was possibly due to the low number of subjects in that category (n = 8, 2.1%). Other modifiable factors like physical activity, hours of sleep, and polypharmacy were not associated with lower quality of diet categories. Socioeconomic status, which is a structural health determinant, was not associated with decreased quality of diet. Since this was a cross-sectional study performed on a small sample from a Chilean commune, directionality of associations cannot be discerned, and future longitudinal studies could aim to better characterize these associations in larger samples of elderly patients.
随着人口老龄化，需要更加关注与饮食和生活方式相关的与年龄有关的健康问题。在这里，我们试图评估人口统计学和临床特征与食物不安全与智利南部一个市镇的非机构化老年人饮食质量之间的关系。我们对 376 名老年人样本进行了分析性横断面研究。营养状况通过人体测量学测量进行评估。通过消费频率问卷确定饮食质量的健康饮食指数 (HEI)。还收集了社会经济、人口统计学和生活方式变量。应用有序逻辑回归和泊松回归模型研究与饮食质量的关联。样本中女性（81.6%）多于男性（18.4%）。大多数老年人发现生活在脆弱或贫困之中（82.4%），大多数人有食物保障（65.7%）。根据 HEI，只有 14.1%的人饮食质量良好，83.8%的人饮食需要改善，2.1%的人饮食不健康。食物不安全和心血管风险（根据腰围）与较差的饮食质量类别相关。然而，泊松回归分析并未证实与不健康饮食质量类别的关联，这可能是由于该类别中的受试者数量较少（n=8，2.1%）。其他可改变的因素，如身体活动、睡眠时间和多药治疗，与较低的饮食质量类别无关。社会经济地位，这是一个结构性健康决定因素，与饮食质量下降无关。由于这是在智利一个市镇的小样本中进行的横断面研究，因此无法确定关联的方向性，未来的纵向研究可以旨在在更大的老年患者样本中更好地描述这些关联。
