Page 9 - Petelin, Ana, and Šarabon, Nejc. 2018. Eds. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Znanstvena monografija / Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press
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Nutrition disorders in the elderly living
period

Monika Brglez1, Tamara Poklar Vatovec2, Nadja Plazar3

1 The Secondary School of Nursing Celje, Ipavčeva 10, 3000 Celje, Slovenia
2 University of Primorska, Faculty of Health Sciences, Polje 42, 6310 Izola, Slovenia

3 Alma Mater Europaea - ECM, Slovenska ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia

Abstract
Introduction: A healthy and balanced diet is an important factor in
healthy lifestyle in all age groups. It is important to be aware that dietary
needs change with age and adjust the daily diet regime accordingly.
The purpose of this paper is to review existing research in the field
of malnutrition of the elderly, present the most common nutritional
disorders and the causes for them in order to prevent malnutrition and
to reduce the morbidity among the elderly and thus maintain or improve
nutritional status.
Methods: A descriptive method of working with a review of domestic
and foreign professional literature in the database EBSCOhost, PubMed,
Web of Science, Wiley and the shared bibliographic-catalogue database
(COBIB.SI) was used.
Results and discussion: In the literature review, it was found that in older
age frequently occur dietary and metabolic disorders, which are the
cause of a poor quality of life in later life.
Conclusions: There are many reasons for insufficient food intake for
older people, but appropriate education and awareness programs and
timely, appropriate identification of malnourished individuals and those
with risk of malnutrition, can help reduce the frequency of nutrition
disorders.
Keywords: healthy nutrition of the elderly, malnutrition of the elderly,
prevention of malnutrition, nutrition disorders

Ahealthy and balanced diet helps older people to maintain a high quali-
ty of life (Liang-Kung et al., 2007; WHO, 2015), since they favor the ab-
sence or delay of various disorders, such as cardiovascular disease, di-
abetes, cancer and cognitive impairment (GBD, 2013). Much attention is paid
to over-feeding, although malnutrition, especially in the elderly, is more wide-

doi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-18-4.9-20
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