Nutrition and Older Adults – the Need for a More Comprehensive Approach

Abstract

With the global population growth seen in recent decades, the population aging phenomenon has reached high proportions throughout the world. This has brought about unprecedented challenges with respect to meeting the specific needs of this large segment of the population. As highlighted by the European Commission, economies, welfare and health systems, as well as housing and infrastructure have suffered globally due to the impact of demographic changes [1]. This said, increased longevity is a notable achievement of modern society, and a longer life should represent the opportunity to live more years in good health and with a high quality of life, contributing to one’s family and community. Unfortunately, data analysis shows that the number of years lived in good health does not match the longer-life tendency, and the additional years are frequently lived with disability and several chronic illnesses [2, 3]. Ageing is a complex biological phenomenon influenced by a multitude of heterogenous factors, experienced in very different ways by each individual person. While the different determinants of the aging process have been extensively researched in recent years, understanding healthy ageing remains an enormous challenge. Since a good nutritional status is vital for good health, diets such as the Mediterranean diet and bal-