Among older adults, malnutrition may bring several health related implications, and low muscle mass is among them.

Currently, malnutrition affects a third of older adults, and their numbers are expected to grow even faster, particularly in Africa and Asia. Malnutrition happens when the body fails to get the necessary nutrients it needs. Underweight and overweight individuals are both affected by this and often goes undiagnosed since it is not assessed regularly during visits to doctors’ clinics. As people age every year after they have reached 65, the odds of them having low muscle mass is 13 percent higher, even in older adults with normal nutrition status.

The older they grow, the more they need protein in their diet—about 30 percent more—to retain muscle mass similar to that of a person in his twenties. Thus, nutrition intervention is needed in order to strengthen the health of our elderly. Now on its second phase, a SHIELD study, conducted by Changi General Hospital (CGH), Sing Health Polyclinics (SHP), and Abbott, revealed that improved nutritional intake reduced the risk of malnutrition by almost three-fold and promoted better health.

The double-blind clinical study that involved 811 participants aged 65 and up and recently published in “Clinical Nutrition,” examined the effects of consuming oral nutritional supplements along with individualized dietary counselling to enhance health outcomes of older adults living in the community who are at risk of malnutrition. Business Mirror