LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN THE INTAKE OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS OF ELDERLY EUROPEANS

Objective: To assess longitudinal changes in intake of vitamins and mi nerals in elderly Europeans. Design: Longitudinal study including the collection of dietary intake data in 1988/1989 and in 1993. Setting: B aseline and follow-up data were collected from nine European towns: Be lgium: Hamme (H/B); Denmark: Roskilde (R/DK); France: Haguenau (H/F) a nd Romans (R/F); Italy: Padua (P/I); the Netherlands: Culemborg (C/NL) ; Portugal: Vila Franca de Xira (V/P); Spain: Betanzos (B/E) and Switz erland: Yverdon (Y/CH). In four other towns dietary intake data were c ollected in 1993 only: Portugal: Coimbra (C/P); Poland: Marki (M/PL); Northern Ireland: Ballymoney-Limavady-Portstewart (BLP/NI/UK) and Unit ed States: Mansfield (Connecticut) (M/CT/USA).Subjects and methods: Us ing standardized methods, data were collected from a random sample of 658 elderly men and 731 women born between 1913 and 1918. Dietary inta ke data were collected by a validated modified dietary history method. Results: A significant decrease in the median intake of vitamin B-1, v itamin B-2, vitamin B-6, vitamin C or iron was observed in several tow ns and for most of these nutrients in H/B, R/DK, R/F and V/P. Over the 4-y follow-up period, the proportion of elderly people with nutrient intakes below the lowest European RDI's increased for various nutrient s in most towns, whereas the nutrient density of the diet, especially for iron and vitamin C, decreased significantly only in a few towns. T he proportion of elderly people taking nutrient supplements varied fro m less than 5% in H/B to 60% in R/DK. Conclusion: The observed decreas e in intake of some vitamins and minerals in most of the participating towns, indicates an increased risk for malnutrition in elderly Europe ans.