Older adults face health problems unique to their age group, so their food and nutrition habits can be crucial for "healthy aging."

The American Dietetic Association has identified numerous nutrition and health challenges facing older adults today, including:

• Nearly 90 percent of older adults have diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol or a combination of all three, each of which has nutrition-related components.
• Seventy percent of the physical decline among older adults with chronic disease is associated with modifiable risk factors like nutrition and smoking.
• Forty percent of people 65 and over living in community settings have inadequate nutrient intakes.
• Food and nutrition services tend to be provided to older adults through a patchwork of health-care and social support systems, not through a comprehensive, consistent approach. Good nutrition can prevent many of the reasons older adults are hospitalized, such as dehydration, falls, pressure ulcers and unintended weight loss.

Many older people can benefit from consulting with a registered dietitian to help maintain their quality of life. RDs provide medical nutrition therapy that lessens people's risk of chronic diseases, slows disease progression and reduces symptoms.