LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN THE INTAKE OF ENERGY AND MACRONUTRIENTS OF ELDERLY EUROPEANS

Objective: To assess longitudinal changes in intakes of energy and mac ronutrients in elderly Europeans. Design: Longitudinal study including a dietary assessment in 1988/1989, which was repeated in 1993. Settin g: Serial data were collected in nine European towns: Belgium: Hamme ( H/B); Denmark: Roskilde (R/DK); France: Haguenau (H/F) and Romans (R/F ); Italy: Padua (P/I); the Netherlands: Culemborg (C/NL); Portugal: Vi la Franca de Xira (V/P); Spain: Betanzos (B/E) and Switzerland: Yverdo n (Y/CH). In other centres dietary intake data were collected in 1993 only: Portugal: Coimbra (C/P); Poland: Marki (M/PL); Northern Ireland: Ballymoney-Limavady-Portstewart (BLP/NI/UK) and United States: Mansfi eld (Connecticut) (M/CT/USA). Subjects and methods: Using standardized methodologies, data were collected from a random stratified sample of elderly men and women born between 1913 and 1918. In 1993 dietary int ake data were collected from 1125 subjects by a modified validated die tary history method. Results: Over the 4-year study period, a decline in mean energy intake of one MJ or less per day was observed in most t owns, which was significant (P < 0.01) in only four of the towns. The within- and between-centre variation of change was large. Overall, a s light decline was reported for all macronutrients and with the excepti on of protein, large within and between centre variations were observe d in both men and women. Conclusion: Intake of energy and macronutrien ts was found to decline with age. This may be of special concern for s mall eaters.