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. 2024 Mar 11;16(6):798.
doi: 10.3390/nu16060798.

Dietary Adequacy in Older Adult Nursing Home Residents of the Northern Iberian Peninsula

Nicolás Pidrafita-Páez  1 , Joana Silveira  2 , Elisabete Pinto  2   3 , Luis Franco  4 , Mª Ángeles Romero-Rodríguez  1 , Mª Lourdes Vázquez-Odériz  1 , Nutriage Study Group
Affiliations

Dietary Adequacy in Older Adult Nursing Home Residents of the Northern Iberian Peninsula

Nicolás Pidrafita-Páez et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

According to the latest data, Spain (19.4%) and Portugal (21.8%) are the two European countries with the highest percentage of older adults. Concerns about diet quality are increasing, especially among institutionalized older people, who are at the greatest risk of malnutrition. To assess the adequacy of dietary intake of 186 older adults (>65 y) institutionalized in public nursing homes (NH) in Galicia (Northwest Spain) and the Porto district (Northern Portugal), a cross-sectional study has been carried out. The double-weighing method and a country-specific food composition database were employed for nutritional assessment. Nutritional adequacy was assessed based on the recommendations of the EFSA and WHO. Caloric intake in Spanish NHs was higher than in Portuguese facilities; 20.3% and 35.8% of Spanish and Portuguese residents, respectively, had a protein intake below the EFSA recommendation, and 46.2% and 44.9% of residents in Portugal and Spain, respectively, had lipid intakes below the reference intake range. Further, 45.5% of the residents in Portugal and 66.9% in Spain had a carbohydrate intake within the recommended range. Salt intake was higher than the recommendation for 67.0% and 32.3% of the residents in Spain and Portugal, respectively. This study supports the notion that institutionalized older adults are prone to significant nutritional inadequacies.

Keywords: dietary intake; nursing homes; nutritional adequacy; older adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationship that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Energy intake (kcal/day) by age group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of residents according to the percentage of energy covered based on their individual calorie needs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of protein intake per meal.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of residents by country in terms of protein intake (g/kg BW/day).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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