Introduction. Health-promoting, and in particular, sustainable eating behavior among older people and the factors influencing them need to be researched. The aim of the study was to identify sustainable and healthy eating behaviors among older people, taking into account demographic, socio-economic and food security factors. A cross-sectional study covering a group of 500 older people aged 60 and over was conducted at the turn of April and May 2025 in the Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesian) region. The SHE scale was used to assess sustainable and healthy eating behaviors; demographic and socio-economic characteristics were adapted from the KomPAN questionnaire, with a socio-economic status being assessed using the SES index. Food security was assessed using the selected questions from the HFSS questionnaire. Eating behavior patterns were identified based on 34 situations describing these behaviors. The principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify these patterns. The chi-square test was used to differentiate the identified patterns by demographic characteristics, a socio-economic status and food security.
Results and conclusions. Two behavioral patterns were identified, named „sustainable behaviors” and „health-promoting behaviors”. Gender and age did not differentiate the intensity of the identified behavioral patterns. Place of residence did differentiate them. The level of food security did not differentiate sustainable eating behaviors, but its lower level was associated with the lower intensity of healthpromoting eating behaviors. A high socio-economic status was associated with a significantly higher percentage of individuals with a high level of sustainable and health-promoting eating behaviors. The elderly population requires actions to promote particularly sustainable eating behaviors.