• Maria Rita Marques de Oliveira and Vânia Aparecida Leandro-Merhi.
• School of Biosciences, Unesp, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
• Int J Older People Nurs. 2011 Sep 1;6(3):196-200.

Background And AimsDisease is influenced by the nutritional status of the individual. We have assessed the relationship between nutritional status and food intake among recently hospitalised older people.MethodsA cross-sectional study was undertaken with 240 older people in a hospital that provides care for the public and private healthcare systems. Nutritional status was classified by the MNA (Mini Nutritional Assessment) into: malnourished, risk of malnutrition and without malnutrition. Food intake was estimated by the reported food intake during a typical day. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the medians and the correlation coefficient of Spearman to verify the relationship between the consumption of energy, protein and vitamin C and MNA scores.Results33.8% were classified as adequate regarding nutritional status; 37.1% were classified as being at risk of malnutrition and 29.1% were classified as malnourished. The malnourished individuals reported significantly less energy and nutrient intake than those at risk of malnutrition or those without malnutrition (P = 0.001). Not all nutrient intake, just some (iron, cholesterol and fibre), were lower in malnourished people.Conclusions And Implications For PracticeDeterioration of the nutritional status of older people is accompanied by a reduction in energy and some nutrient intake. The investigation of food intake in older people could provide important information about nutritional risk.© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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