[Nutrition in the elderly]

It is well known that nutrition plays an important role in the maintenance of health through the whole life. Especially, nutrition in the elderly is thought to be necessary for keeping their life comfortable. How much calories should be needed in the elderly? In our country, daily allowance of total calories is 1600 kcal in male and 1400 kcal in female in seventh decade respectively. 1460 kcal in male and 1270 kcal in female over eighty years old are recommended respectively. Protein requirement is about 0.6 g/kg of body weight. Fat should be kept as it is. Vitamin and mineral are the another important factors. We investigated the levels of serum vitamin B1 (B1) and B12 (B12) in 26 elderly out-patients. B1 and B12 are within normal ranges and there is no tendency to decline with age. Serum Zinc (Zn) is one of microelements and its deficiency is thought to cause the taste disorder. In 126 male subjects, Zn decreased significantly with aging. Zn correlated with serum total protein and albumin. There exists some discrepancy in the food habits between the old and the young: Dietary habits is Japanese style in the former and Western one in the latter. Recently as the old people are increasing in population, those who complain of difficulty in swallowing food are also increasing. In these cases, we should apply the artificial feeding such as central venous hyperalimentation, nasogastric and gastro-fistula feeding, etc. And ratio of these artificial food intake will increase in the near future.