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Chapter 6 - Nutrition and Aging

from Section I - General Approach to the Care of the Elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2022

By
Diane Villanyi  and
B. Lynn Beattie
Edited by
Jan Busby-Whitehead ,
Samuel C. Durso ,
Christine Arenson ,
Rebecca Elon ,
Mary H. Palmer  and
William Reichel
Jan Busby-Whitehead
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Samuel C. Durso
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
Christine Arenson
Affiliation:
Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
Rebecca Elon
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Mary H. Palmer
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
William Reichel
Affiliation:
Georgetown University Medical Center
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Summary

Optimizing nutrition in the elderly is paramount to help maintain good health and quality of life. There are many factors leading to nutritional frailty in the elderly, including physiologic causes such as age-related changes in smell and taste, altered absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, changes in the neuroendocrine pathway, and cytokine-related adverse effects on nutrition. The burden of comorbidity, including cognitive decline, directly impacts an older adult’s nutritional status. Social factors such as limited access to fresh food, social isolation, and lower socioeconomic status can compromise an elderly individual’s nutritional status. It is important to screen the elderly for malnutrition in both the inpatient and outpatient setting using validated nutrition screening tools. The nutritional requirements of older adults are outlined in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) updated 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The elderly in long-term care may face additional nutritional challenges including dysphagia due to a neurodegenerative process and perceived restrictions in mealtimes and menus. Nutritional frailty in the elderly is multifactorial and thus requires a multipronged approach to identification and management.

Keywords

nutritional frailtymalnutrition in the elderlymalnutrition syndromesnutrition screening toolsnutritional requirementslong-term care
Type
Chapter
Information
Reichel's Care of the Elderly
Clinical Aspects of Aging
 , pp. 54 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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