Abstract
Background. A significant increase in the prevalence of malnourishment, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity has been observed in developed countries over the last few decades. In Spain, this especially happens in populations over 65 who are not institutionalized. Differences in lifestyle, medication, and economic capacity partially explain this increase. Objective. To study the nutritional status of a population of 65 year-olds and subjects who are not institutionalized, in the Cádiz region (Spain). Methods. Observational, transversal study carried out on 2621 subjects who are 65 years old and over, with a direct weight and height measurement, in 150 pharmacy offices from 44 locations. A mobile application was designed for homogeneous data collection in all the pharmacy offices. The data required from all subjects was gender, age, postal code, social security contribution regime, if the patient lives alone, type of food consumed as the main meals, level of physical activity, polypharmacy, weight, and height. Results. The prevalence of overweight and obesity amounts to 82.2% of the population (43.2% overweight and 39% obese). We found an inverse relationship between the prevalence of overweight and obesity with carrying out physical activity and having full dinners. Conclusion. We identify the need to reinforce the messages to the elderly aimed at maintaining adequate physical activity and assessing the quality and quantity of dinners, as well as reducing, as much as possible, the treatments that may lead to weight gain.
Highlights
The elderly comprise the fastest-growing population group, and the WHO projecting a total of 1.2 billion people over the age of 60 years by 2025 [1].A working group on nutrition for the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG) published a consensus document [2] assessing the nutritional status of the elderly.The consensus’ objective was to improve the diagnosis of nutritional disorders that are common among this age group, which are sometimes underdiagnosed [3]
Structured scales are available to help with nutritional screening; the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) is the most endorsed for diagnosing malnutrition in the elderly population, but it is not used to diagnose obesity [4,5]
When we look at the prevalence of overweight and obesity in relation to age, obesity figures increase as people age from 65 to 80 years old, at the same time as overweight figures decrease
Summary
The elderly comprise the fastest-growing population group, and the WHO projecting a total of 1.2 billion people over the age of 60 years by 2025 [1].A working group on nutrition for the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG) published a consensus document [2] assessing the nutritional status of the elderly.The consensus’ objective was to improve the diagnosis of nutritional disorders that are common among this age group, which are sometimes underdiagnosed [3]. The elderly comprise the fastest-growing population group, and the WHO projecting a total of 1.2 billion people over the age of 60 years by 2025 [1]. A working group on nutrition for the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SEGG) published a consensus document [2] assessing the nutritional status of the elderly. Structured scales are available to help with nutritional screening; the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) is the most endorsed for diagnosing malnutrition in the elderly population, but it is not used to diagnose obesity [4,5]. BMI among those aged over 65 corresponds to that of an overweight and obese population, with higher values among women than men (29.2–29.7 vs 28.4–28.9, respectively). BMI Age Group
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