OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize the nutritional status of an elderly population and verify its relationship with cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome. METHODS: Nutritional status and prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome were assessed in an elderly population from a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the South of Brazil. Body mass index, according to the Lipschitz classification of 1994, was used to determine their nutritional status. Metabolic syndrome diagnosis was based on the International Diabetes Federation criteria. RESULTS: Among the studied elderly, 42% of the males and 50% of the females were overweight. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, central obesity, low high density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels and high triglyceride levels were more common in overweight individuals than in normal weight individuals of both genders. Using the normal weight individuals as reference, the overweight were at greater risk of systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, with an odds ratio of 3.3 (CI95%: 1.7 to 6.4), 3.3 (CI95%: 1.48 to 7.1) and 6.9 (CI95%: 3.2 to 14.6) respectively, while the underweight tended towards a lower odds ratio for the same diseases. CONCLUSION: The odds ratios for the presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome were associated with nutritional status determined by body mass index. The odds ratios are progressively higher in the overweight and lower in the underweight, regardless of age and gender.
Nutritional status; Cardiovascular risk factors; Elderly; Body mass índex; Metabolic syndrome
