Abstract

PASSANHA, Adriana et al. Milk consumption profile in elderly people. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2011, vol.21, n.2, pp. 319-326. ISSN 0104-1282.

The elderly are exposed to changes in nutritional balance due to socioeconomic and physiological factors, use of medicines, illness, and/or difficult in obtaining and preparing food. These factors can lead to an inadequate dietary habit and to an inappropriate consumption of several foods, including milk. The aim of this study is to characterize aspects of milk consumption of the elderly vaccinated in the 11^th National Campaign of Vaccination of the Elderly. This is a cross-sectional study in elderly volunteers of both sexes vaccinated in a School Health Center. Participants were asked about daily milk intake. Variables description was performed by frequency, standard deviation and mean; the chi-square test was used, with significance indicated by p <0.05 to verify the association between them. Three hundred elderly were interviewed, which whom 33.0% were more than 75 years old (>75 years old group) and 64.3% were female. The >75 years old group and women reported greater consumption of milk. However, the average daily intake was 275.5 mL (SD=226.67). By comparing the values with the average intake recommended by the Brazilian Food Guide, it's possible to observe that no group reached the recommendation, excluding the dairy products. Differences between the groups intake were statistically significant. Considering the advantages of including this food in the diet it is necessary to develop actions related to this issue, since many of the elderly showed negative attitudes.

Keywords : health of the elderly; elderly nutrition; milk; health centers.

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