Balance of macronutrient intake among Brazilian elderly: analysis of the National Dietary Survey 2008-2009.

Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the balance in the intake of protein, carbohydrate, and fat among the Brazilian elderly population. Methods: The data analyzed were taken from the National Dietary Survey 2008-2009, from a total of 4,286 Brazilian elders (60-104 years old). Based on the dietary intake obtained from two food records, the Multiple Source Method (MSM) was used to evaluate the macronutrients and saturated fat. The AMDR (Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range), by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), was used to evaluate the macronutrient energy percentage (%E). Linear regression models identified differences between macronutrients %E and household location (urban or rural), Brazilian macro-regions and gender. Results: Protein intake showed higher agreement with the AMDR reference value (99.86%). It was observed that in 9.2% of the population, fat intake was higher than the reference value, almost twice as high as the carbohydrate-energy percentage (4.9%) and nine times higher than protein (1.0%). Among those with low carbohydrate-energy percentage, 14.5% had higher fat-energy percentage (β = 8.19; p < 0.001), which means that 50% of the elderly whose carbohydrate intake was above the recommendation presented an overconsumption of fat. According to the macro-regions, the Midwest region was the only one to show differences for carbohydrate-energy percentage, which was lower than the others regions (51.6%; p < 0.05). The South region presented the lowest protein-energy percentage (17.9%; p < 0.01) and the highest fat-energy percentage (28.7%; p < 0.01). Conclusion: Higher prevalence of inadequate fat intake among the Brazilian elderly may indicate an important public health problem that is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases.