Dietary intake of free-living elderly in northern Greece

The aim of the present study was to investigate the nutrient intake of a non-institutionalized Greek elderly population. Dietary intake and anthropometric data were investigated in 100 elderly subjects from Grevena, Greece, all belonging to the race of "Hasiotes." According to BMI classification, 48% of the subjects are considered overweight and 20% obese. WHR for women and men was 0.91 and 0.98, respectively. Both genders presented insufficient energy intake (7.27 +/- 3.49MJ/d) in 3 +/- 0.9 feeding sessions daily. Mean protein and fiber intake was 0.82 +/- 0.43 and 0.29 +/- 0.2g/kg BW, respectively. The diet presented insufficient amounts of vitamins A, B6, D, E, K, Biotin, Pantothenic acid, Cu, I, Mg, Mn, and Zn. Female subjects exhibited low dietary intake of vitamins B2, B3 and Ca. The diet had many characteristics of the traditional Mediterranean diet and comprised of a high intake of goat-milk yoghurt, olive oil, goat cheese, traditional alcohol drinks, pies, legumes, fruits and meat. The majority of the sample (70%), reported fasting on Orthodox celebrations. Further research should assess adherence to the Mediterranean diet with the use of scores and compare diet characteristics to other regions in Greece, in order to present regional differences in Greek diet variations.