Ageing

As we age, the risk of nutritional deficiency increases. The older population are disproportionately burdened with risk of nutritional deficiency due to medical, psychological, physiological, social and economic difficulties associated with increased age (Quain, 2015).

Clinical markers of malnutrition include significant weight loss, loss of subcutaneous fat, localised or generalised fluid accumulation and reduced grip strength. Extremes in body mass index (BMI), low or high, should increase suspicion for malnutrition.