Food and nutrient intake in a group of self-managing elderly Swedish women

With the increasing numbers of elderly women living at home, there is an interest to investigate the dietary intake of this group.

To investigate the food and nutrient intake in a group of self-managing elderly women in Sweden.

A 3-day self-reported food diary and a repeated 24-h dietary recall were used. The study comprised 135 single-living or married/cohabiting women (mean age 79.5 8.0 years).

Mean energy intake for the whole group was 6.8 1.9 MJ, and low energy figures were obtained in all age groups indicating some possible under-reporting with a calculated EIrep/BMRest of 1.24 0.36 for the whole group. Overall, energy and nutrient intake was similar in the different age groups (64-68 yrs, 74-78 yrs and 84-88 yrs). Reported intakes of vitamin D (4.8 2.7 mg), tocopherol (5.9 2.2 mg), iron (8.5 2.9 mg), folate (200 8.7 mg) and selenium (29 11 mg) were low compared to recommended intakes. Only minor differences between women in different household types were found. The women reported a variety of food items in their diet.

Overall, the results from this study indicate that self-managing elderly women report low energy figures, but have a sufficient intake of most nutrients. However, there is a tendency that the oldest women, i.e. 84-88 yrs have lower intakes.