Eating Habits, Health and Gender in the Elderly

The aging process must be understood as a multifactorial process involving interactions between biological, environmental and gender factors. Lifestyle and diet are factors of particular importance in the health situation of elderly. Thus one of the most important goals of aging research is to identify factors that contribute to improving health in this stage of life. A cross-sectional observational study was performed with a sample of 191 women and men aged 65 or more years in rural and urban areas of the Comunidad de Madrid, through interviews with a survey designed ad hoc for the study, which considered different social, cultural, lifestyle and health. The results showed that women perceived their health as fair or poor in a higher percentage of men (61% women vs. 45% men), they were also less satisfied with their life (28.6% women vs. 6% men). Educational level, gender and morbidity were determinants in the perception of health. There was a different pattern of health in both genders, with a significant prevalence of osteo-articular problems in women (62.3%). Eating habits at the time of the study showed no association with better or worse health, either among women or men, while gender issues (education or income level) were associated with health.