Nutrition

Jyrki Turunen 2/23/2011


Nutrition in Adulthood and older age

I. Importance of nutrition maintaining good health

It is well recognized that with advancing age there is an increased incidence of chronic diseases and evidence points to the importance of nutrition in the development, susceptibility to and outcome of these diseases (Gariballa and Sinclair, 2005). Bone density is declining if inadequate vitamin D intake, some decline in immune function may be preventable by dietary modification and micronutrient deficiency together with high homocysteine level may increase the risk to cardio-vascular diseases in older age. Some neurological and behavioral symptoms may emerge together with nutritional deficiencies. It is important to have good nutrition from adult to older people preventing disease and maintain health.

II. Metabolic changes and nutrient needs

Crude measures to assess nutritional status

The size and composition of the body is determined by the interaction between genetics and nutrition. Of course, there are many age-related physiological and pathological changes relevant to nutrition during life-time and body composition changes with age. Nutritional assessment in the elderly has three main goals (Gariballa and Sinclair, 2005). Which are to define the type and type of undernutrition, second is identification of high risk elderly groups and third is to monitor the efficacy of nutritional intervention. Relationships between the absorption of individual nutrients can be measured by biochemical indicators. At the same time misclassification and bias should be avoided.

Assessment of nutritional status has few measures; dietary surveys, anthropometric measurements, biochemical measures, immunological measures and clinical assessment scales.
Nutrients and energy need special attention

Energy requirements decrease by about 100 kcal per decade in proportion to the reduction in the amount of lean metabolizing tissue (Rosenberg, 2000). The combination of advanced age, multiple chronic diseases and use of drugs leads to an increased risk of protein energy undernutrition (PEU).

Together with decreasing energy requirements and risk of protein energy undernutrition there is increased risk of undernutrition. Body composition changes with age and it can be difficult to make difference between age-related changes and chronic illnesses. With decreasing energy intake, reasonable amount of micronutrient is less easily met and elderly people are less able to readapt their energy balance after periods disproportion between low and high energy levels. Dietary data are highly sensitive to coding and data entry errors because nutrients are calculated from large number of foods (Willett, 1998).

Picture 1 Assessment of nutritional status.

III. Public health policies to enhance good nutrition


Recent changes in government priorities have seen an increase in support social costs in year 2009. This is occurring at time when there is increasing social pressure on parents, particularly father, to study. At the same time serious health and financial concerns meet public health issues to ensure good nutrition for adults. Many argue that parents save their own food costs make sure that their children will have good and proper nutrition. However, it is my contention that there are many advantages to provide proper lunch for adult students using study place restaurant and the government should provide more financial assistance to parents who do so.

It has been argued that adults who attend study places at their best working age are more cost to society and it more valuable to society if they earn their salaries instead of worthless studying. These adults, so this argument goes, may be nutritionally disadvantaged later in life. However, employment agency may assist these people in their adult education. They give opportunity to mix with other adult students and to develop social skills at their adult age. Indeed, a whole range of learning occurs in workers institute and working environment.

Another argument support to prove financial assistance for people who will educate themselves spontaneously is that adults can be emotionally deprived without having financial aid compared learning occurring in workers institute or just work places. This argument assumes that good nutrition instead of saving their money in study places gives better learning results. It claims that ability to be good tax payers for government is diminished without financial support. Moreover, students become less dependent and government officials are less stressed and more effective care-givers when there are periods of separation. In fact state-citizen relationship can be improved by the ensuring study place feeding.

It could be further asserted that the government and the economy as whole as cannot afford the enormous cost involved in supporting study place lunch and living costs. However, studying healthy adults actually contribute to the national economy. They are able to utilize their productive skills and future tax payers, while without good proper education and not able to have it could promise less bright future.

In conclusion, government support for good nutrition and study services as finance also in adult age assist students and joy of life in older age, which is important for the economic well-being of the whole nation.

References
Garrow JS, James WPT and Ralph A. Human Nutrition and Dietetics.London. Churchill Livingstone 2000.
Willett W. Nutritional Epidemiology. Oxford. Oxford University Press 1998.
Geisslerr C, Powers H. Human Nutrition. Philadelphia. Churchill Livingstone 2005.