Title : A population approach to optimize health in the Asia-Pacific region - Nutrition as the foundation
Abstract:
As the proportion of older people in populations across Asia and worldwide rises, the gap between lifespan and healthspan is expanding, leading to a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, multimorbidity, and reduced intrinsic capacity in later life. A multidisciplinary working group of clinician-scientists and researchers from the Asia-Pacific region met to discuss opportunities to address this challenge and identify strategies to promote better health for aging populations. A broad-based literature review informed the working group, and discussions affirmed the concept of “optimal nutrition” as a foundational aspect of population health. Optimal nutrition across all life stages helps maximize and preserve functional ability and is thus critical to promoting healthy aging. The group further highlighted five key interconnected enablers of good health and good nutrition across the continuum from individuals to populations to achieve maximum impact with nutrition-focused interventions:
(1) awareness of personal health state
(2) access to education, information, and skills for self-care
(3) lifestyle habits and motivation
(4) maintaining good person-environment fit
(5) policies and regulations.
To effectively promote healthy aging, nutrition interventions should utilize one or more of these key enablers. Additionally, it is important to assess and quantify the impact of such interventions on measures of healthy aging.
KEYWORDS: Healthy Aging; Population Health; Health Determinants; Optimal Nutrition
