Nutritional shortcomings are a key driver of age-related decline and disability whereas proper diet can increase years of healthy life. In support of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, Joint Research Centre (JRC) scientists have reviewed the evidence on the role key nutrients and diet plays in promoting healthy ageing.
JRC scientists collected evidence on the prevention and treatment of age-related diseases with a focus on under-nutrition in older people, a main cause as well as a consequence of functional decline. The resulting report “The role of Nutrition in Active and Healthy Ageing” provides an important contribution to the overall target of the Partnership which is to increase the average healthy lifespan by two years by 2020, to enable EU citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives while ageing and to improve the sustainability and efficiency of social and health care.