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The relationship between health self-perception, food consumption and nutritional status among Portuguese older adults

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 73, pages 1613–1617 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

In Portugal people aged 65 and above will be the populational group with the highest growth rate of the next decades. Healthy ageing constitutes a challenge as not only the number of years lived are essential, but also the quality of life becomes a priority. The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between health self-perception (HSP), food consumption and nutritional status among Portuguese older adults. Four hundred fifty-nine older adults (aged ≥ 65) were interviewed, almost half had a positive HSP. The most significant predictor of HSP was nutritional status, p = 0.005, but independence in shopping had the largest impact on how they compared to others, p < 0.001. Interventions need to focus on factors like nutritional status, independency on Activities of Daily Living, Satisfaction with Food-Related Life and utilize them to modify the negative HSP and attitudes towards ageing and health and maximize the positive aspects of old age.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação and Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal

    Margarida Babo

  2. Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal

    Rui Poínhos, Bela Franchini & Cláudia Afonso

  3. Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação, Universidade do Porto and LIAAD and INESC TEC, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal

    Bruno M. P. M. Oliveira

  4. Faculdade Ciências Nutrição e Alimentação, Universidade do Porto and GREENUPorto, Porto, 4200-465, Portugal

    Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida

Authors
  1. Margarida Babo
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  2. Rui Poínhos
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  3. Bela Franchini
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  4. Cláudia Afonso
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  5. Bruno M. P. M. Oliveira
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  6. Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida
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Correspondence to Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida.

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Babo, M., Poínhos, R., Franchini, B. et al. The relationship between health self-perception, food consumption and nutritional status among Portuguese older adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 73, 1613–1617 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0473-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0473-2

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