Aging at home: more research on nutrition and independence, please.

As highly as Americans prize independence, older Americans fear dependence even more. Yet nutrition’s effect on independence in later years is often overlooked as a research focus and is underappreciated by older adults themselves and by those working with them. Nutrition scientists can and should play a greater role in prolonging independence by focusing more attention on the health promotion and prevention aspects of nutrition (1). To rectify this research and service oversight and given the federal cost-containment policy to rebalance long-term care away from nursing homes to the ballooning area of homeand community-based services, the American Society for Nutrition with the American Dietetic Association and the Society for Nutrition Education recently issued a position statement that stated the following (2):