{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,30]],"date-time":"2026-04-30T14:57:07Z","timestamp":1777561027114,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,23]],"date-time":"2021-12-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640217600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>As the population ages, greater attention to age-related health problems related to diet and lifestyles is needed. Here, we sought to evaluate the associations between demographic and clinical characteristics and food insecurity with the quality of diet of non-institutionalized elderly from a southern Chilean commune. We performed an analytical cross-sectional study in a sample of 376 older adults. Nutritional status was evaluated through anthropometric measurements. Quality of diet was determined by the healthy eating index (HEI), obtained through the frequency of consumption questionnaire. Socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle variables were also collected. Ordinal logistic and Poisson regression models were applied to study associations with quality of diet. The sample consisted of more women (81.6%) than men (18.4%). Most older adults were found to live in a situation of vulnerability or poverty (82.4%), with most having food security (65.7%). According to the HEI, only 14.1% had a good quality of diet, 83.8% had diet in need of improvement, and 2.1% had an unhealthy diet. There was an association of food insecurity and cardiovascular risk (according to waist circumference) with lower quality of diet categories. However, an association with the unhealthy quality of diet category was not confirmed with Poisson regression analysis, which was possibly due to the low number of subjects in that category (n = 8, 2.1%). Other modifiable factors like physical activity, hours of sleep, and polypharmacy were not associated with lower quality of diet categories. Socioeconomic status, which is a structural health determinant, was not associated with decreased quality of diet. Since this was a cross-sectional study performed on a small sample from a Chilean commune, directionality of associations cannot be discerned, and future longitudinal studies could aim to better characterize these associations in larger samples of elderly patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu14010036","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,23]],"date-time":"2021-12-23T21:40:21Z","timestamp":1640295621000},"page":"36","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Food Insecurity Is Associated with the Quality of Diet of Non-Institutionalized Older Adults from a Southern Chilean Commune: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3540-7703","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Orietta","family":"Segura-Badilla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Programa UBB Saludable, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y de los Alimentos, Universidad del B\u00edo-B\u00edo, Chillan 3780000, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3875-0945","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ashuin","family":"Kammar-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Instituto Nacional de Geriatr\u00eda, Mexico City 10200, Mexico"},{"name":"Secci\u00f3n de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigaci\u00f3n, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional, Mexico City 11340, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9406-611X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Add\u00ed Rhode","family":"Navarro-Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica y Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias Qu\u00edmicas, Benem\u00e9rita Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Puebla, Puebla 72570, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jacqueline","family":"Araneda-Flores","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Nutrici\u00f3n y Salud Publica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y de los Alimentos, Universidad del B\u00edo-B\u00edo, Chillan 3780000, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0718-467X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier","family":"Mancilla-Galindo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Investigaci\u00f3n UNAM-INC, Instituto Nacional de Cardiolog\u00eda Ignacio Ch\u00e1vez, Mexico City 14080, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Obdulia","family":"Vera-L\u00f3pez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica y Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias Qu\u00edmicas, Benem\u00e9rita Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Puebla, Puebla 72570, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Lazcano-Hern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica y Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias Qu\u00edmicas, Benem\u00e9rita Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Puebla, Puebla 72570, Mexico"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3079-5193","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gladys","family":"Quezada-Figueroa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Nutrici\u00f3n y Salud Publica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud y de los Alimentos, Universidad del B\u00edo-B\u00edo, Chillan 3780000, Chile"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"7","article-title":"El envejecimiento de la poblaci\u00f3n chilena y los desaf\u00edos para la salud y el bienestar de las personas mayores","volume":"31","author":"Albala","year":"2020","journal-title":"Rev. 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