Anorexia of Aging
Age-related decline in food intake driven by altered taste/smell, delayed gastric emptying, increased postprandial satiety hormones (CCK, PYY), reduced ghrelin response, and social factors.
Anorexia of aging contributes to sarcopenia, frailty, and increased mortality in older adults. Distinguished from disease-driven anorexia by chronicity and lack of identifiable disease. Interventions include high-energy nutrient-dense foods, fortification, oral nutritional supplements between meals, enhanced food presentation, social meals, and addressing reversible factors (medications, depression, dental problems). The 2024 EAA-leucine-vitamin D supplementation evidence base in older adults is summarized in MNHD Ch 56.
How one textbook covers it
Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 12th ed. — Ch 56: Nutrition in Older Adults
Anorexia of aging contributes to sarcopenia, frailty, and increased mortality in older adults. Distinguished from disease-driven anorexia by chronicity and lack of identifiable disease. Interventions include high-energy nutrient-dense foods, fortification, oral nutritional supplements between meals, enhanced food presentation, social meals, and addressing reversible factors (medications, depression, dental problems). The 2024 EAA-leucine-vitamin D supplementation evidence base in older adults is summarized in MNHD Ch 56.
Related terms
Frailty, GLIM criteria, Sarcopenia