INTRODUCTION SOCIAL PARTICIPATION BY OLDER ADULTS IS A HEALTH-PROTECTIVE ELEMENT THAT PROMOTES A NORMAL NUTRITIONAL STATUS THROUGH THE INTAKE OF APPROPRIATE NUTRIENTS THAT FAVOUR SUCCESSFUL AGING. MATERIAL AND METHODS A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYTICAL STUDY WAS PERFORMED ON A SAMPLE OF 118 OLDER ADULTS. FOOD INTAKE WAS MEASURED USING A 24-H RECALL QUESTIONNAIRE. THE BODY MASS INDEX WAS USED TO EVALUATE THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS. THE INFORMATION WAS ANALYSED USING UNI- AND BIVARIATE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS. GIVEN THE ABNORMAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONSES, THE MANN-WHITNEY AND KOLGOMOROV-SMIRNOV STATISTICAL TEST WERE USED TO COMPARE DATA AT THE SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL ?=0.05. RESULTS MORE THAN HALF (55%) OF THE WOMEN AND 61% OF MEN HAD A NORMAL NUTRITIONAL STATUS. THE CALORIES AND MACRONUTRIENT INTAKE WERE WITHIN THE RECOMMENDED RANGES AND UNRELATED TO THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS (P>.05). THE MICRONUTRIENTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN RELATION TO THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS, BROKEN DOWN BY GENDER AND AGE, IN THE MAJORITY OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS. (P>.01). THE GROUP BETWEEN 75-90 YEARS OLD ACCOMPLISHED THE RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCE IN EVERY CASE. CONCLUSIONS THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN ORGANISED COMMUNITY GROUPS, THE EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF THE OLDER ADULTS, AND HIGHER INCOME, COULD BE KEY FACTORS TO EXPLAIN THE GOOD NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF THE GROUP, AND APPEARS TO BE A GOOD INDICATOR OF HEALTHY AGING.