[Nutritional profile of Brazilians aged 50 years and over between 2015/2016 and 2019/2021: findings from ELSI-Brazil]

The objectives were to evaluate the differences in the nutritional profile between 2015/2016 and 2019/2021 and to estimate the number of Brazilians (≥ 50 years) with nutritional profile inadequacies. This is a cross-sectional study that used data from participants in waves 1 (2015/2016; n = 8,724) and 2 (2019/2021; n = 7,729) from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil). Anthropometric parameters included body mass index and waist circumference (WC) and weekly food consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, and red meat in both waves. Seven criteria for nutritional profile inadequacy were analyzed. There was an increase in the prevalence of high WC [70.0% (95%CI 68.5-71.5) and 75.5% (95%CI 72.8-78.0)] and fruit consumption in 3-4 days of the week [16.5% (95%CI 15.4-17.6) and 23.0% (95%CI 20.1-26.1)] between waves 1 and 2, respectively. The prevalence estimates of underweight and overweight (around 2% and 70%, respectively) remained stable during this period. It was estimated that, in 2022, around 29 million Brazilians aged ≥ 50 years had ≥ 4 inadequate criteria of the nutritional profile. It is concluded that the nutritional profile of the participants showed slight changes during the period. Public Health actions are necessary to improve this population's anthropometric parameters and food consumption.