Diet, falls and healthy ageing among older adults

Abstract

number of older adults has increased substantially in recent years in most countries, and this growth is projected to double in the forthcoming decades. Older people are expected to represent at least a quarter of the population in all major areas of the world except Africa by 2050. Together with the ageing population comes an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases and a higher number of people with impaired physical and mental capacity. The World Health Organization defines healthy ageing as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age”. Frailty, disability, and falls in older adults are major challenges to healthy ageing and the health systems as they compromise health and quality of life and their long-term consequences represent an increased need for health and social care, which jeopardises the future sustainability of old-age and social protection systems in many countries. Therefore, understanding the factors that impact on healthy ageing and predispose to limitations in capacity and well-being in the elderly is crucial to design and successfully implement health promotion policies and interventions in older people. Among modifiable risk factors, there is solid evidence on the role of diet on healthy ageing, but the role of some nutrients and of dietary patterns, as well as their synergies and interactions, is still uncertain. The doctoral thesis aims to get a better understanding of the effect of nutritional factors and dietary patterns on healthy ageing and age-related disorders, with two complementary approaches commonly used in nutritional epidemiology. Firstly, we aim to examine the association between a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and the risk of falling in older adults. Secondly, our goal is to analyse the relationship between the consumption of different types of legumes and traditional legume-based recipes with unhealthy ageing. Finally, we will look to the impact of a single nutrient investigating the association between added sugar intake and the risk of falling in elderly people