[Dietary intake elderly subjects in rural and urban area in Poland]

In this paper the authors tried to evaluate and compare the dietary habits of elderly people living in rural and urban areas. The data were collected from 591 men and women aged 61-96 years, using 24-h dietary recall. Energy and selected nutrients content in daily diet was calculated basing on these data. The energy and macronutrients content in daily diet of rural and urban residents was similar. However, the intake of some vitamins and minerals, especially beta-carotene and ascorbic acid, in men and women and potassium and magnesium in women, was lower in rural than in urban population. Daily energy intake in men was higher, and in women adequate to the recommended values. The per cent of energy from fat was high, while that from carbohydrates was relatively low in the daily diet of men and women. The study subjects had high intake of sodium, phosphorus, vitamin A, and insufficient intake of calcium, zinc, copper, riboflavin, vitamin B6, and women had also low intake of iron, potassium, thiamin and niacin in comparison with Polish dietary allowances. Improper dietary habits significantly increase the risk of development of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, and osteoporosis among the studied subjects.