Vitality and Nutrition

Summary:

Vitality can be a defining characteristic for healthy aging. This American Society on Aging Generations Now blog post explores what is known about the different dimensions of vitality, how they are measured, and important supports for vitality, including nutrition, to promote healthy aging.

Key Takeaways:

• Focusing on vitality represents a transformative shift in healthy aging—from reactive, disease‑oriented care to proactive, function‑focused health management.
• Vitality can act upstream, shaping other capacities rather than directly impacting functional impairment.
• Nutrition must be central to vitality assessment, as undernutrition is prevalent, reversible, and strongly associated with functional decline.

Related Questions & Answers

• What are the domains of intrinsic capacity, and how is vitality related?
  The 5 domains of the framework for intrinsic capacity are cognition, psychological well-being, sensory function, locomotor function, and vitality. Vitality is the most integrative and biologically comprehensive domain.
• How can vitality be measured?
  Vitality related to functional difficulties in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) can be assessed using measures of nutritional status, handgrip strength, and a composite of biomarkers associated with inflammation and mitochondrial function.
• What are nutrition interventions to support and promote vitality?
  Adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors, including maintaining a high-quality diet with adequate protein and regular physical activity, can help maintain vitality. In addition, for older adults who are malnourished/at risk of malnutrition, oral nutrition supplements (particularly when combined with nutrition education/counseling) support improved nutrition, help maintain/increase body weight and muscle mass, and contribute to sustained functional and psychological benefits and overall vitality.
• Why is vitality fundamental to quality community healthcare?
  Vitality is meaningful and measurable. Detecting early declines in vitality enables targeted interventions to slow or reverse functional losses and promote healthy aging.

Disclosures:

• Daniel Martinez is senior medical manager for Abbott Nutrition International in Argentina-Chile.
• Oscar Hincapie, MD, is area medical director for Abbott Nutrition International–Latin America Countries.