[Food guidelines and nutritional goals for aging].

As a contribution to the formulation of food guidelines and nutritional goals for Latin America, this article examines the singular situation of the elderly, defined as those persons over 60 years of age. The projected data for the year 2025, published by the Population Department of the United Nations, show that this age group represents an important sector--6.4% of the population in 1980--that is growing. Some countries, however, do have a rate that is comparable to the United States, 11.3%, such as Argentina, 12.7%, and Uruguay, 14.8%, which is similar to that of Europe. Along with other comparative demographic information, the analysis covers some of the biological, physiological, pathological, and psychosocial characteristics that become more common in senescence. To a certain extent, these characteristics bear a direct or indirect relationship with the energy, protein, and nutrient content of the diet. This becomes more evident upon examining the causes of mortality and morbidity in the elderly, whose diseases are quite often chronic and degenerative. Those with the highest incidence, such as the cardiovascular ones--including cerebrovascular accidents, atherosclerosis, and hypertension--diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, anemias from lack of iron and folates, and some forms of cancer, reveal the influence of certain nutrients in their pathogenesis. Very few studies have been done on the over-70 age group to determine their requirements for energy, proteins, and various nutrients that serve as the basis for appropriate food guidelines. Usually, estimates are extrapolated from data on the 40-and-over age group. Some maintain that the variations for the elderly are small, but since this group is growing and is far from homogeneous, such a hypothesis must be tested. Following a review of recent literature, the article proposes a set of Food Guidelines and Nutritional Goals for persons over 60 in Latin America. It also recommends to countries interested in formulating their own guidelines how to proceed for the short, medium, and long terms. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the elderly are the most neglected group with reference to government programs, and most forgotten by society. They depend to a great extent on the labor force of each country. They suffer most frequently from chronic diseases and have the most need for medical care, they use a broad range of drugs that may interfere with the absorption and utilization of nutrients, as well as foods when may impair the bioavailability of drugs. They show the highest mortality rates, and, in a high proportion, require a normal diet.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)