NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND DIETARY HABITS OF MENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Introduction: The majority of menopausal women is changing nutritional status. The causes of this may include: hormonal changes, bad eating habits, heredity, lifestyle etc. The most common symptoms of menopause are hot flushes, sweats and mood swings. Women entering menopause unprepared to cope with the changes of this period of life and with insufficient knowledge of dietary habits that lead to oversupply or lack of nutrients. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the degree of nutritional status in postmenopausal women and to determine the degree of correlation between nutritional status and dietary habits of women with menopausal symptoms and the frequency of certain health disorders. Methodology: The study was carried out collecting, systematization and statistical analysis of data on the nutritional status and dietary habits of a sample of 300 women aged 45 to 55 years old. For women, the absence of a menstrual cycle longer than three consecutive months, it was considered to be in menopause .The survey was conducted in five ambulance of family medicine. To collect the data is used standardized list of questions about eating habits, based on the Likert scale. Results and discussion: According to the body mass index (BMI), 12:33% of the patients were within the normal range of nutrition, while 87% of respondents were from overweight and obese. BMI was significantly higher in patients with an increased intake of: soft drinks, sweets and white bread. Soy as a food is present in the diet in only 18% of respondents. Women who have never had symptoms of menopause and menopausal disorders have significantly lower BMI (p<0,05). The most common diseases in the period of menopause in a patient were examined: hypertension (57%), diabetes (12%), depressive disorders (25%) and cancer (1%). Conclusion: Food habits of the respondents indicate insufficient knowledge of nutritional needs and recommendations, which resulting in the consumption of food that is not adapted to this period of life. The subjects are not feed buy the standards and recommendations of the WHO, and among them there is an increased risk of diseases typical for menopause, and as a result of the effects of improper nutrition. Nutrition according to the standards and recommendations of the WHO resulting in improved nutritional status of women in menopause, and as result of that is a reduction in the occurrence of diseases and negative symptoms of menopause. Recommendation: It's needed a systematic and organized education …