ABSTRACT
This chapter includes information on the nutrients in relation to their chemistry and form in food, metabolism and requirement, and methods of status assessment. It discusses the prevalence and diagnosis of anemia. The availability of dietary Fe for absorption is as important a factor as overall total Fe content in determining nutritional adequacy. Anemia due to blood loss in the elderly is commonly misdiagnosed as dietary Fe-deficiency anemia and the source of iron loss not identified. The use of anticonvulsant drugs may lead to the development of folacin deficiency in individuals exposed to their action over a long period of time. Several smaller folacin status assessment studies have been conducted on selected elderly population subgroups in the US The most common cause of vitamin B12 malabsorption and deficiency is a lack of intrinsic factor. The effect of age on the quantity of storage Fe has been investigated and the findings suggest that Fe requirements decrease with age.
