Dietary guidance for older Australians

Aim: This paper reviews the literature on dietary guidance for older Australians. Methods: The components of the 1999 National Health and Medical Research Council Dietary Guidelines for Older Australians are reviewed in conjunction with the current literature. Results: Advice on a healthy diet for older people from different professionals can sometimes seem to be looking in opposite directions in terms of amount and types of food to recommend. Appropriate nutritional guidance should be determined by the stage of ageing, not by chronological age. For those in the third age-older but still active-advice should be somewhat modified from the dietary guidelines for younger adults. For example, maintaining muscles and bones become more important than keeping a low body mass index. Conclusions: The 1999 National Health and Medical Research Council Dietary Guidelines for Older Australians provide a sensible framework for considering recent evidence. In old people who are frail and losing weight, the 'fourth age', our main concern should be to prevent (further) malnutrition. The popular dietary rules of low calories, sugar, fat and salt no longer apply.