Assessing the nutritional needs of the geriatric patient with diabetes.

The 1994 Nutrition Guidelines reinforce that all nutritional plans for people with diabetes should be individualized, which is particularly important and necessary for elderly patients. The geriatric population poses many unique challenges to the healthcare professional due to physiological changes and many other risk factors that affect nutritional status either directly or indirectly. A thorough nutritional assessment that includes an evaluation of the potential nutritional risk factors described in this article can help in developing an effective and realistic nutritional plan for achieving and maintaining good blood glucose control and good nutritional status in geriatric patients with diabetes.