Cumplimiento de las Guías Alimentarias en personas mayores chilenas: Un estudio descriptivo de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2016-2017

Abstract

Chile is one of the Latin American countries that exhibits the greatest increase in the aging population, thus it is necessary to visualize different tools that guide healthy lifestyles at this stage of life. Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (abbreviated as GABA, for initials in Spanish) provide recommendations that allow improving the quality of life in older people. This study aimed to determine the level of compliance with GABA recommendations and their association with anthropometric, metabolic and lifestyles factors in 1,789 people over 60 years who participated in the 2016-2017 National Health Survey. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out, in which participants were subdivided into four groups according to compliance with GABA: does not comply, complies with 1, 2 or at least 3 recommendations for consumption of legumes, fruits, vegetables, dairy, water and fish. As a result, 43.8% of older participants did not meet any of the GABA recommendations evaluated. These participants also performed less physical activity and had a longer sitting time (P-trend: <0.001). In conclusion, we highlight that close to 50% of elderly Chileans do not adhere to GABA recommendations, which could have implications for the health and well-being.