Evaluation of the nutritional risk in elderly assisted by Family Health Teams* AVALIAÇÃO DO RISCO NUTRICIONAL EM IDOSOS ATENDIDOS POR EQUIPES DE SAÚDE DA FAMÍLIA EVALUACIÓN DEL RIESGO NUTRICIONAL EN ANCIANOS ATENDIDOS POR EQUIPOS DE SALUD DE FAMILIA

Changes in the nutritional state contribute to an increase of morbi-mortality among the elderly. The instrument Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI) was developed in order to identify nutritional risks in this population group. This study aims to describe the socio-demographic profile and evaluate the nutritional risk of the elderly assisted by Family Health Strategy teams. It is a cross-sectional study with a population sample of 503 older people living in Dourados (MS). Instruments: NSI and structured questionnaire for the health sociodemographic variables. There was a prevalence of female people, aged between 60 and 69 years old, widowers, illiterate, with a per capita income up to one minimum salary, with hypertension and regular health self-evaluation. The NSI allowed to identify 33.2% of the elderly with high nutritional risk, which was significantly associated to the low level of education, low per capita income and chronic diseases. As a tracking method, the NSI was useful to identify the social and health determinants that contribute to the nutritional risk.