Effect of household size on nutritional patterns among the Dutch elderly

Elderly persons are vulnerable to nutritional risks. Factors such as living alone make the elderly prone to poor nutritional status as a result of inadequate diets. The results of a Dutch national nutrition survey of food consumption and nutritional status among 539 independently living, apparently healthy elderly persons, aged 65 to 79 years, show that in general the intake of macronutrients deviates from the Dutch recommendations. In particular, saturated fat intake and P:S ratio were unfavorable, especially for the solitary elderly persons (saturated fat intake 19.0 +/- 3.2% and 17.7 +/- 3.3% total energy for men and women, respectively). Except for vitamin B-6 (about 92% of the recommendation on a group level for men and 78% for women), the intake of micronutrients studied is considered to be adequate. Elderly women living alone had a higher calcium:phosphorus ratio (0.76 +/- 0.12), lower meat consumption (90 +/- 31 gm), and a lower mean HDL-cholesterol concentration (1.22 +/- 0.28 mmol/L) in serum than non-solitary elderly women (Ca:P ratio 0.73 +/- 0.12, meat consumption 100 +/- 36 gm, HDL-cholesterol concentration 1.45 +/- 0.38 mmol/L). Potatoes, vegetables, and meat were more often prepared for more than one day at a time by elderly persons living alone than by the non-solitary elderly.