NUTRITIONAL DETERMINATION OF THE HEALTH STATUS IN POLISH ELDERLY PEOPLE FROM AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Background: An increasing number of people over 60 years of age living world-wide undertake appropriate actions in order to identify factors to optimize their health. Objective: The study was aimed at evaluating nutritional patterns, biochemical parameters (TC, HDL, LDL, TG, glucose) and anthropometric parameters (BMI, waist circumference, arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness) of 220 subjects over 60 years of age originating from an urban environment. Methods: Nutritional patterns were evaluated by means of a 24-h dietary recall, whereas nutritional status of the subjects was assessed based on anthropometric parameters and selected biochemical assays linked with lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. Results: The study demonstrated a low energy value of food rations of the analyzed seniors from Wroclaw, an improper proportion of energy supply from particular nutrients: SFA (saturated fatty acid) - 14% and carbohydrates - 52%, as well as low intake of fruits and vegetables, cereal products and dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. 70% of the women and in 50% of the men were characterized by a high concentration of total cholesterol in blood serum. In turn, ca. 15% of the subjects were shown to have an elevated concentration of glucose. A statistically significant difference was demonstrated between waist circumference of the women and men examined (91.0 +/- 11.8 vs. 100.4 +/- 10.5; p<0.05) as well as between their glucose concentration in blood (respectively: 88.0 +/- 28.4 vs. 103.5 +/- 24.3; p<0.05). In 25 women, skinfold thickness was over 25 mm and mean BMI reached 30. In 40 seniors, skinfold thickness exceeded 11 mm, whereas BMI was lower and reached 25. Conclusion: In most of the examined seniors analyses demonstrated deficient nutritional patterns and disturbed processes of lipid metabolism. The study indicates the need for further extensive investigations of factors that determine the health status of the seniors.