ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND NUTRIENTS OF ELDERLY AND PAINFUL KNOWLEDGE IN THE COMMUNITY
Food consumption; Nutrition Surveys; Nutrition Recommendations; Elderly.
Introduction: The increase in life expectancy has led to new public health challenges in the population, such as chronic diseases. Among the main chronic osteoarticular diseases, we can mention osteoarthritis (OA) of the knees, characterized mainly by pain in the knees, which limits the accomplishment of daily activities. In this context, the literature suggests that there is a positive correlation between knee OA development and obesity, in addition, overweight is one of the most significant modifiable factors in worsening symptoms. Thus, it is relevant to determine if elderly women with knee pain compared to the asymptomatic elderly, present differences in food consumption. Objective: To evaluate the habitual energy and nutrient intake of elderly women with and without pain in the knees, living in Santa Cruz/RN. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study, with elderly (n=100) symptomatic and asymptomatic regarding knee pain. Food intake was determined by the 2-day mean of the 24-hour Reminder. The diets were analyzed in Dietbox®. The individual energy requirement was estimated using formulas and total calorie consumption was analyzed considering the range of 97 to 103% of energy expenditure. Macronutrient suitability was checked according to the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges. The mean intake of fatty acids, cholesterol and fiber was analyzed according to the values proposed by the IV Brazilian Directive on Dyslipidemias. The micronutrient inadequacy was estimated by the Estimated Average Requirement method as the cutoff point and the water consumption was evaluated based on the recommendation of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population. To analyze the data, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0 was used. For the comparison of the data distributions between the groups, Student's t-tests or the Mann-Whitney test were used according to normality, as evaluated by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Results: The mean age was 67 (±8.0) years for the asymptomatic group and 67 (±9.0) years for the symptomatic group. As for the energy consumption, macronutrients, fatty acids, cholesterol, fiber and water, there were differences between the groups, which were not statistically significant. The energy intake was inadequate in 96.1% of the asymptomatic ones and in 93.9% of the symptomatic ones. There were also no statistically significant differences among the elderly women regarding the dietary intake of micronutrients, except for the usual consumption of zinc mineral (p value = 0.033), the symptomatic group had an average zinc intake lower than the asymptomatic group. In the groups, the greatest inadequacies (> 50%) were for vitamins A, D, E and folic acid and magnesium and calcium. The lowest inadequacies were for vitamin C and pyridoxine (values between 21.6% and 22.4%). Inadequate intake of vitamin D (100% of those evaluated) is highlighted. Conclusion: Among the groups, high prevalence of inadequacy for caloric intake, saturated fatty acid consumption, cholesterol, fiber, water intake, macros and micronutrients were observed. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in nutrient intake, except for the zinc mineral, since the symptomatic elderly had an average zinc intake lower than the asymptomatic group.