ABSTRACT
Objective
To compare the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods in families with and without elderly and oldest-old people.
Methods
This is an observational, cross-sectional study with secondary data from the Household Budget Survey, conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics between 2017 and 2018. Families were characterized based on the oldest member: Control (without elderly and oldest-old) or with elderly and oldest-old. The sociodemographic characteristics of the families and the foods purchased by the families were obtained, according to the Nova classification (in natura, processed and ultra-processed foods, in addition to culinary ingredients).
Results
Families with elderly and oldest-old people had greater availability of fresh foods and fewer ultra-processed foods. In contrast, young families showed greater acquisition of all ultra-processed food items.
Conclusion
The unfavorable nutritional transition process with fewer in natura foods seemed to be less evident in families with higher age groups. It is concluded that the presence of the elderly and oldest-old in the family could be related to a better quality of the family diet, with a greater presence of fresh foods and a lower acquisition of ultra-processed foods.
Keywords
Aged, 80 and over; Demography; Elderly nutrition; Nutrition surveys