Nutrition and health in old age : the cross-sectional analysis of the findings of a survey made in 1972/3 of elderly people who had been studied in 1967/8 : report / by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy.
Date:
1979
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Nutrition and health in old age : the cross-sectional analysis of the findings of a survey made in 1972/3 of elderly people who had been studied in 1967/8 : report / by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Preface The number of people who live well beyond the age of retirement is increasing and, if present trends continue, there will be over 40% more octogenarians in the 1990s than at present. The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy has long been aware of the lack of information about the process of ageing and in 1967/68, under the aegis of this committee, a survey was made of men and women over the age of 65 years who were living in their own homes. There were equal numbers of men and women in the sample and they were randomly selected from areas in which senior physicians in geriatric medicine were willing to help. The survey, therefore, did not provide information which was nationally representative. None the less information about dietary habits, socio-economic circumstances and medical condition was obtained from 879 people. About three per cent were diagnosed as malnourished and, in most, malnutrition was associated with the presence of debilitating clinical disease. Five years later, in 1972/73, all but three of the sample of 879 people were traced and, although about one third had died, over half were willing and able to take part in a tollow-up study. Three hundred and sixty-five ot these subjects had participated fully in the 1967/68 survey and did so again in 1972/73. The present report describes the cross-sectional analysis of information from the 365 full participants: the findings of the longitudinal analysis will be published later. The field work in 1972/73 again produced a wealth of information— dietary, social, medical, biochemical and haematological. Much greater attention was paid to the identification of malnutrition and also of the ‘‘risk factors’’ associated with it. In addition, unlike the 1967/68 survey, all bio- chemical measurements were made in the same laboratory and were therefore comparable between the different areas. The present study confirmed yet once more that the dietary pattern of these elderly people was not very different from that of the general population. As expected, the incidence of disease was zreater than in the previous survey. Twenty-six people were considered to be malnourished and in 25 malnutrition was associated with clinical signs of disease; for the twenty-sixth person the diagnosis was questionable and the cause of malnutrition not clear. The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy is grateful to Professor A N Exton-Smith for his leadership of the team of consultant physicians who made the medical assessments and for the chairmanship of the Working Group who were responsible for the analysis of the survey findings. The study could not have been made without efficient organization and co-ordination by all those taking part. The clinicians and the dietary investigators did the field work but the co-operation of the general medical practitioners in the areas and of the clerks of the Family Practitioner Committees in England and Primary Care ili