[Assessment of the nutritional intake of the adult population of Geneva based on individual quantitative questionnaires].
This paper presents the variation in dietary intake, according to sex and age, observed among a representative sample of the over-19-years old residents of Canton Geneva (Switzerland). 576 men and 384 women have been interviewed by 2 specially trained dietitians using a dietary history questionnaire (7.9% of the total population). Differences between sexes are essentially a matter of quantities: in grams or kilocalories, men eat more of all nutriments than women. The energetic intake of the males exceeds by 600 kcal the one of the females. This difference is partly due to a mean alcoholic intake of 44 g for the men and 13.7 g for the women. But the percent of each nutriment in the energetic intake, without alcohol, is the same in both sexes, i.e. 15 +/- 2% of proteins, 40 +/- 6% of lipids and 45 +/- 7% of glucids. The same phenomenon can be seen in Oriental Flandras, in Liège or in Calvados. Age is an important factor influencing all types of nutrient intakes. Our data show that when men or women get older, the percentage of lipids and protids in the energetic intake tends to decrease while the percentage of glucids increases. The total lipid intake decreases with age but the polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ration remains constant with age. This observation could be associated with a change in dietary habits of the elderly, a difference of diet from one generation to the other, or the result of a mortality excess among individuals that had an hyperlipidic diet.