[Food habits of women: frequency of food consumption and evaluation of changes in dietary behavior].
OBJECTIVE
To describe present day dietary habits, and how and why they may have changed over the lifetimes.


METHODS
Cross-sectional.


METHODS
1037 lower middle-class women, resident in Alcobendas (Autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain), and born between 1933 and 1953. All the women participating in a Women Health Program organized by the Alcobendas Municipality.


RESULTS
21.9% of the women followed some special type of diet, of whom 53.74% did so because of illness and 28.63% did so in order to slim. The type of diet adopted differed significantly according to age (chi 2 = 11.52, d.f. = 3, p = 0.009). Women under 55 years of age chose their diets fundamentally in order to slim, while the over-55s followed special diets (e.g., low cholesterol, salt-free, and diabetic) for reasons of health. 48.78% of the women in the sample had changed their dietary habits for distinct reasons: migration, marriage, illness, menopause, weight gain, etc.


CONCLUSIONS
The change in dietary habits has followed the pattern observed in other industrialized countries, including Spain. Within this general pattern there has also be a trend towards a decrease in the consumption of proteins and simple carbohydrates associated with age and nutrition-related diseases.
Montero López
P
P
Unidad de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. pllar.montero@uam.es
Bernis Carro
C
C
Varea González
C
C
Arias Careaga
S
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D003927:Diet, Diabetic; D018752:Diet, Fat-Restricted; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D004039:Diet, Sodium-Restricted; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008903:Minerals / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage
D008903:Minerals; D014815:Vitamins