Screening for risk of malnutrition in Wisconsin's elderly.

In older adults, nutritional status is related to chronic disease risk, ability to maintain independent lifestyles, and rate and duration of hospitalizations. Significant numbers of American elders are either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. Data from a recent survey of 21,000 Wisconsin participants in home-delivered or congregate meals 60 years of age and older indicated that in this group, over one fourth were at high risk for malnutrition. The Nutrition Screening Initiative, a collaborative effort of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Dietetic Association, and the National Council on the Aging, has identified risk factors for malnutrition in the elderly and is promoting systematic nutrition risk screening and intervention within the health care system. Risk factors for malnutrition in older adults, screening techniques available to medical practices, and resources for intervention are described in this paper.