BODY-COMPOSITION IN ELDERLY PERSONS - A CRITICAL-REVIEW OF NEEDS AND METHODS

Significant changes in body composition that have important health rel ated effects are believed to occur in the elderly. Knowledge of these changes is important for diagnoses, prognoses, and treatment of health problems. Many health problems in the elderly could be prevented or a lleviated by nutritional modulation, but better understanding of the n ature, extent, and underlying physiology of body compositional changes is needed for such interventions to be successful. There are currentl y few data for body composition in the elderly, especially for those g reater than 75 y in age, partly because conventional methods of assess ing body composition are difficult to apply for technical and conceptu al reasons. As a result, little is known regarding the relationships o f body composition to nutritional, functional or health status in non- hospitalized, free-living elderly persons. Knowledge of the ''natural history'' of body compositional changes and their relationships to oth er nutritional and health factors could lead to new insights on preven tion and treatment, the reduction of morbidity and extension of the qu ality of life of older persons.