Evidence of Supplementation Usage in the Elders

Running head: HUMAN NUTRITION
HUMAN NUTRITION
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1HUMAN NUTRITION
Evidence of supplementation usage in the elders
Malnutrition and age related health problems associated with diet
Introduction
The older population is increasing worldwide and in many countries the older people will
outnumber the younger population in the near future. Meeting the diets and the needs of the older
people us therefore necessary for the maintenance of the health, functional independence and the
quality of life (Leslie and Hankey 2015). Malnutrition, encompassing both under and over
nutrition increases the risk of health in the older population. This section will discuss about the
malnutrition and age related health problem associated with the eating habits.
Discussion
A literature review has been conducted by selecting relevant from electronic databases
like CINAHL and PubMed. The papers has been chosen within the publication years 2012-2019
and relevant papers related to adult nutrition and diseases has been selected by using appropriate
keywords. The Australian Guide for Healthy Eating, has also been referred to for evaluating the
dietary requirement of the older adults.
Older person are vulnerable to nutrition and attempts to provide them with proper
nutrition might encounter several practical problems. This is due to the fact that nutritional
requirements of the older person are not well defined. Both the basal metabolic rate and the lean
body mass decline with age and the energy requirement per kilogram of the body weight is also
reduced. Dietary fat has been associated with colon cancer, prostate cancer and pancreatic

2HUMAN NUTRITION
cancer. The atherogenic risk factors like increased blood pressure, glucose intolerance and the
blood lipids are significantly affected by the dietary factors (Reedy et al. 2015). Degenerative
disease like the cerebrovascular diseases and the cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cancer,
diabetes are common for the older person (World Health Organization 2016). The micronutrients
play an important role in promoting the health and the prevention of the non-communicable
diseases. According to Hoffman (2017) suboptimal level of the micronutrients helps in the
micronutrient (vitamins and minerals ), antioxidants and anticancer phytochemicals is a major
contributor to the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), cardiovascular diseases , cancer and
Alzheimer’s disease among the older adults ( Barnard et al. 2013). Hypertension among the older
adults can be associated with high sodium intake, although the other risk factors might be
obesity, stress or heredity. Both hypertension and high LDL cholesterol is associated with the
development of cardiovascular disease among the older adults (Félix-Redondo 2013). Diets rich
in cholesterol and saturated trans fats increases the concentration of the LDL cholesterol. Certain
intraluminal conditions in the intestine, like the increased transit time or the cholesterol content
of the bile, can also increase the LDL concentration in the elderly (Félix-Redondo et al. 2013).
In most of the cases it has been found that the nutrition obtained by the older adults does
not meet the nutritional requirement as per the Australian guidelines. Milk can be an important
sources of calcium and proteins. A study by World Health Organization (2016) had found short
falls in the consumption of milk among the older adults .Another study by Kennedy (2016) has
found that shortfalls in the intakes of vitamin C, vitamin D, folate, magnesium and zinc. Shortfall
in the micronutrients has been associated with obesity and overweight in the older adults. The
initial effects of the micronutrient deficiencies in the older adults can be mild, diffuse or
subclinical and can be easily missed. For example, the deficiency of vitamin B might cause