Can Adequate Nutrition Aid in the Prevention and Treatment of Frailty in Older Adults?

With older adults experiencing longer life expectancies, one of the goals of healthy aging is to prevent frailty to maintain independence. Frailty is defined as “a clinically recognizable state of increased vulnerability resulting from aging-associated decline in reserve and function across multiple physiologic systems such that the ability to cope with every day or acute stressors is [compromised]” (Clin Geriatr Med 2011;27:1–15). Frailty, in which an individual has diminished strength and endurance and reduced physiologic function, is thought to have multiple causes and can result in increased dependency and death (J Am Med Dir Assoc 2013;14:392–397).