Introduction:

The increment of life expectancy in a population is an achievement of the contemporary medicine; therefore, the evaluation of the nutritional state and the social and demographic factors are important for the prevention and control of diseases in the elderly.

Objective:

To determine the corporal mass index and its relationship with the social and demographic characteristics of the elderly at the Elderly Center in Huancayo, Junín, Peru, during 2017.

Methods:

An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study, of 140 aged persons randomly selected who fulfil the inclusion and exclusion criteria was carried out. A questionnaire was applied to determine the social and demographic factors and the nutritional state by means of the corporal mass index. The data were analyzed in the program Stata 14, by means of the univariate, bivariate and multivariate descriptive statistics. The Chi squared test was used.

Results:

The global average of corporal mass index was 22.48 ± 9.5, with prevalence in women. Of the total of patient, 10 were thin (7.1 %); 78 normal weight (55.7 %); 46 were overweight (32.9 %) and 6 were obese (4.3 %). The social and demographic factors associated were the residence area, physical activity and comorbidities presence.

Conclusions:

Most of the elderly presented an appropriate nutritional state, followed by overweight, which evidences the necessity of health programs on feeding and healthy nutrition in this age group.

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