Earlier this year, we learned how the Baby Boomer generation may be harming their health for the long term by reducing the amount of food and vital nutrients they consume every day. Unfortunately, these very same problems may plague the elderly, even those living in nursing homes, according to a recent study.

Based on statistics compiled on more than 6,000 patients from global data pooling, the pervasiveness of malnutrition among the elderly is rampant in rehabilitation settings -- a startling 91 percent -- and hospitals (86 percent). Even nursing home residents aren't immune to malnutrition, with some two-thirds of seniors at risk.

In hopes of correcting this nutritional problem, an expert in geriatric medicine has developed a shorter version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment tool that identifies patients in one of three categories (malnourished, at risk and well-nourished) and takes just four minutes to be completed by a health professional.

Data from the global pool demonstrated how measuring an elderly patient's calf circumference can be a valid alternative when other vital health statistics -- specifically their body mass index -- is unavailable.

European Hospital November 22, 2009