Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

  1. Salah Gariballa, clinical senior lecturer (s.e.gariballa@sheffield.ac.uk)
  1. Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing, University of Sheffield, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, S5 7AU

    May have a place for some, but improved diet and physical activity will do more good

    The number of older people is growing rapidly worldwide. In England alone the number of people older than 65 has more than doubled since the 1930s, and one fifth of the population is now aged 60 or more.1 Ageing, disease, lifestyle, and environmental factors may all impair in older people the acquisition of food and its intake, processing, and metabolism, all leading to poor nutritional status.2 Ageing is also associated with decreases in physical activity and lean body mass and an increase in body fat. The accompanying reductions in energy requirements and intake of food lead to lower intakes of macronutrients and micronutrients.2

    Many older people exhibit poor immune responses and are at a high risk of infection.3 Although the mechanisms leading to the age related decline in …

    Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment

    Subscribe

    Article access

    Article access for 1 day

    Purchase this article for £20 $30 €32*

    The PDF version can be downloaded as your personal record

    * Prices do not include VAT

    Rapid responses

    THIS WEEK'S POLL

    Read related article

    See previous polls

    BMJ most popular