Nutrition for Special Groups

Nutrition for Special Groups 3(3+0)

Lesson 26: Nutrition for the Elderly

Physiological Changes

• As a person ages factors such as nutrition, genetics, physical activity and everyday stress influence physical and physiological conditions both positively and negatively.
• As aging progresses, inevitable changes in each of the body’s organs contribute to the body’s declining function.
• Skin changes with age. It grows thinner, takes longer to heal when injured, gets wrinkles, and loses some of its elastic quality. Many changes to the skin that seem to be from aging are actually changes caused by damage from over-exposure to the sun.