Avaliação do estado nutricional em um grupo de idosos no interior Paraibano.

Abstract

In developing countries like Brazil, the age for an individual to be considered elderly is 60 years, and an adequate nutritional status for these people is extremely important for quality health, without risk of disease. The present study aims to evaluate the nutritional status of elderly people who participate in the “Grupo Alegria de Viver”, in the interior of Paraíba. It is a cross-sectional survey, whose target audience is the elderly in the joy of living group. Data were collected from 29 elderly people, 27 female and 2 male, from January to February 2023. The results obtained in relation to the Muscle Mass Index, the elderly were underweight (10.3%), eutrophic (48.3%), overweight (24.1%) and obesity (17.3%). In the classification of waist circumference in females, it was analyzed that there was high laughter (14.8%), very high risk (66.7%) and no risk for metabolic complications associated with obesity, in males there was no individual evaluated with that risk. The waist-to-hip ratio classification for females resulted in 85% of the elderly women being at risk for developing metabolic diseases and for males, none of the evaluated subjects contacted this risk. The calf circumference assessment resulted in 90% of the elderly of both sexes not being at risk of malnutrition. Regarding the classification of body fat percentage, both genders had a 100% risk for diseases and disorders associated with obesity. At the conclusion of the study, it was possible to observe that a significant number of elderly people have their nutritional status at risk for metabolic diseases that are associated with excess weight. But taking into account that anthropometric parameters should not be used in isolation for diagnostic purposes, it is necessary to associate them with other indicators for a more reliable result.