The effect of a liquid nutrition supplement on body composition and physical functioning in elderly people.

Background & Aims: The elderly are at an increased risk of poor nutritional status which is mutually interacting with functional status. We evaluated the effects of a liquid nutrition supplement on anthropometric and functional indices in elderly people.

Methods: Subjects (n=68; mean age=82+/-7 years) with body mass index
Results: No compensation of energy intake occurred. After 6 months, the supplement group had gained more weight (+1.6 kg) than the placebo group (+0.3 kg) (P=0.03). No other significant changes in anthropometric, functional or blood parameters were seen. There was a significant improvement on the section 'sleep' of the NHP (mean change+/-SE=-0.38+/-0.19 for supplement vs 0.24+/-0.19 for placebo, P=0.03).

Conclusion: Dietary supplementation led to an increase in body weight and had a positive influence on sleep in elderly persons. Supplementation did not affect energy intake from regular meals and thus resulted in additional energy intake.