Clinical Nutrition for an Ageing Population

The application of clinical nutrition to ageing populations requires the development of a high degree of multidisciplinarity with its related scholarship and skills. Clinical Nutrition is the prevention, diagnosis and management of nutritionally-related health problems (NRHP) by qualified health care practitioners. It may be practised by those specialised in it or in the course of work from primary to tertiary health care, in various major (e.g., internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics & gynecology, and psychiatry) disciplines and in sub-specialties and for various age groups , notably children (paediatrics) and the elderly (geriatrics). With population ageing, the field of geriatric nutrition has grown. Its underpinning science and scholarship require contributions from ageing biology, the medical sciences, epidemiology, sociology, and bioethics; it must also be coordinated with the food system to ensure food security; its practitioners need an intimate knowledge of communities and households. It may be considered in several domains Geriatric Nutritional Epidemiology, Preventive geriatric nutrition, Diagnostic geriatric nutrition, Management geriatric nutrition- care, therapeutics, palliation and Nutrition and Ageing Economics and Community Geriatric Nutrition. Effective geriatric nutrition is a team and community endeavour.