Nutrition in Aging

Reviewer: Lynn Danford, MS(University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine)
Description: This second edition of this nutrition textbook describes issues related to aging and provides recommendations for clinical practice. Demographics, physiology, socioeconomic factors and applications are presented. The first edition was published in 1984.
Purpose: The stated purpose is to provide the nutrition professional with necessary information to make appropriate decisions regarding nutrition needs of older people and to adequately counsel clients regarding food selection. Identifying the unique nutritional requirements of aging individuals is a relevant nutritional issue. Although the overview of current scientific research on nutrition and aging is thorough, the applications for clinical practice are superficially presented.
Audience: The book is written for nutrition students and professionals. It is not entirely suitable for this audience. The format and very basic presentation of normal physiology is not appropriate for the professional nutritionist.
Features: There are 38 illustrations, but the text could be enhanced by the additional use of charts and tables. Illustrations are not always adequately described. The use of bold type to highlight newly introduced words is confusing and adds inappropriate emphasis. Although many of the words are defined in the glossary, this was inconsistent. Several appendixes, resource lists, and assessment tools are useful. References at the conclusion of each chapter are numbered but presented in alphabetical order.
Assessment: The topic of nutrition and aging is important and has extensive applications. The author provides an overview of the nutritional needs of the elderly and a comprehensive review of current research and training for delivery of nutrition services. Although this text could be used in a graduate course in geriatric nutrition, its clinical usefulness is questionable. There is inadequate emphasis on practical applications. Problems include (1) omission of nutritional recommendations for the prevention and treatment of heart disease in the chapter on chronic disease and (2) inconsistent and unclear recommendations for nutritional counseling. This book's greatest distinction is the excellent and comprehensive descriptive summary of the unique nutritional requirements and concerns of the elderly.

Lynn Danford

This second edition of this nutrition textbook describes issues related to aging and provides recommendations for clinical practice. Demographics, physiology, socioeconomic factors and applications are presented. The first edition was published in 1984. The stated purpose is to provide the nutrition professional with necessary information to make appropriate decisions regarding nutrition needs of older people and to adequately counsel clients regarding food selection. Identifying the unique nutritional requirements of aging individuals is a relevant nutritional issue. Although the overview of current scientific research on nutrition and aging is thorough, the applications for clinical practice are superficially presented. The book is written for nutrition students and professionals. It is not entirely suitable for this audience. The format and very basic presentation of normal physiology is not appropriate for the professional nutritionist. There are 38 illustrations, but the text could be enhanced by the additional use of charts and tables. Illustrations are not always adequately described. The use of bold type to highlight newly introduced words is confusing and adds inappropriate emphasis. Although many of the words are defined in the glossary, this was inconsistent. Several appendixes, resource lists, and assessment tools are useful. References at the conclusion of each chapter are numbered but presented in alphabetical order. The topic of nutrition and aging is important and has extensive applications. The author provides an overview of the nutritional needs of the elderly and a comprehensive review of current research and training for delivery of nutrition services. Although thistext could be used in a graduate course in geriatric nutrition, its clinical usefulness is questionable. There is inadequate emphasis on practical applications. Problems include (1) omission of nutritional recommendations for the prevention and treatment of heart disease in the chapter on chronic disease and (2) inconsistent and unclear recommendations for nutritional counseling. This book's greatest distinction is the excellent and comprehensive descriptive summary of the unique nutritional requirements and concerns of the elderly.

2 Stars from Doody