Características alimentarias y su relación con el índice de masa corporal en los jubilados del IESS Cuenca, 2012

Abstract

Objective: To describe food consumption characteristic and the relation with body mass index of elderly retired people from IESS Cuenca- 2012.

Method and materials: Descriptive study. The sample was 350 people, with a confidence level of 95% and a relation 1,8:1 between women and men respectively; identifying 225 women and 125 men for the data gathering. The instrument used was a previously validated questionnaire; and the results were analyzed using the SPSS 18.00 version.

Results: 67,7% were females, the average age is 71,4 years. According to BMI, the 20,3% were normal, 53,1% overweight, 21,4% obesity I, 4,9% obesity II and 0,3% obesity III. 51,4% don’t accomplish the recommended food fractions; at breakfast 73,4% drink milk, 82,6% eat bread/cookies; at lunch 90,3% drink soup, 88,6% main dish, 68,9% salad, 23,4% dessert and 70% drink juice. In the afternoon 42% eat bread and 33% milk; at dinner the most common practice is not to eat food.

The meat consumption is 1-2 times per week; 70% don’t eat daily vegetables,78% eat bread and 57,1% eat rice daily; 45,3% have an insufficient consumption of fruits, the most used fat is oil 81,1%, 5,4% eat daily fried food, only 21,2% drink more than 5 glasses of water; 10% daily eat sweetmeats and 44% don’t take dietary supplements.