ASSOCIATION BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE ELDERLY

Introduction: Adequate food and nutritional status represent essential conditions for human beings and are directly linked to health and the prevention and rehabilitation of diseases, being fundamental to quality of life and the wellbeing of the elderly population. Objectives: To evaluate the association between nutritional status and quality of life (QL) of the elderly population assisted by the Steps of Longevity Project of the Food Bank of Rio Grande do Sul. Methods: Cross-sectional and retrospective study that used secondary data, collected between March and December 2017, of 185 non-institutionalized elderly aged 60 and over. Sociodemographic informations were obtained from a questionnaire with simple and direct questions. Anthropometric data collected were weight, height and Body Mass Index and scores related to QL were measured using the Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36). Results: The mean BMI was 29.7 kg/m2, but when individuals were stratified by BMI range, a higher prevalence of obesity was observed. Analyzing the association of QL scores related to the eight domains of the SF36 questionnaire, in general, obese individuals had worse QL in practically all domains, except for social and mental health aspects. Functional capacity and limitation by physical aspects showed a positive association (p