Understanding the Relationship between Aging and Appetite

1.0 Introduction

Aging is a natural phenomenon of progressive physiological changes or a decline of biological functions in an organism. It takes place in a cell, a tissue to the whole human organism. Many factors accelerate the aging process and affect human beings both physically and mentally. The article illustrates how aging affects appetite as the sensory organs in an organism start to become insensitive. The author also sustained his stand by doing research personally and getting other researchers’ investigations on aging.

2.0 Summary

The article discusses and articulates about how aging leads to a decline in food intake which is caused by a few factors such as a decrease in appetite and changes in controlling food intake in the elderly. The article concludes that the decrease in appetite is not only due to aging but a variety of other factors such as social and physiological factors. Physiological factors including saliva production decrease the urge to feel thirsty declines and the gastrointestinal tract changes with age.

3.0 Critique

3.1 A Decrease In Appetite

This article does not provide a very clear view on the effect of aging which leads to a decrease in appetite. Rolls (2009) stated that it is common for the elderly after the age of 65 to 70, who do not to eat sufficient enough to meet their energy demand, and their body weight will decrease. This statement stated here is lacking evidence on how increasing in age causes decreasing in body weight. The author should provide more concrete evidence to sustain his claim. Amarya (2015) illustrated that aging leads to a decline in lean body mass and a rise in body fat as the body composition changes due to various physiological functions that affect the metabolism. This statement supports Rolls’s point of view and explains how aging leads to a decrease in body weight. Moreover, Morley (2001) supported Rolls’s statement by first describing this situation as the ‘anorexia of aging’ in 1988 and stating that reasons of food intake decrease with aging involve both peripheral and central mechanisms and other various factors. This claim supports Rolls’s statement that most elderly face this problem due to aging of body mechanisms.

Besides that, many other factors may also cause a decline of food intake in the elderly such as social and physiological factors (Rolls 2009). This claim is good and has sufficient evidence as the author uses Wurtman's research in 1998 to show that through his research by giving young and elderly in a clinical research center identical foods, the elderly consume less food than youngsters. Alibhai (2005) demonstrated that it is common for the elderly to face unintentional weight loss as it is caused by a variety of social, physical, and physiological conditions, along with age-related changes. This statement by Alibhai correlates to Rolls’s statement on factors that cause a decrease in food intake. Moreover, Ship et al. (2002) also supported Rolls’s claim by stating that approximately one-third of the elderly above 65 years old will face a decline in saliva production which causes them to have eating difficulties at the same time lose their appetite. This is one of the physiological factors that causes food intake decline in the elderly which indirectly supports Rolls’s point of view.

3.2 Changes In Controlling Food Intake

This study gave a vague explanation on the changes in control of food intake in the elderly as they age. Rolls (2009) mentioned that the ability of elderly subjects who are healthy to feel thirsty declines and this causes them to not consume enough water to restore their liquid balance after being dehydrated. However, Rolls (2009) lacked evidence on the effect of food deprivation on hunger and food intake in the elderly since studies have not been carried out. This shows that Rolls (2009) has only given evidence on how water intake changes in the elderly but there is insufficient proof to support his statement regarding the changes in controlling food intake. Rolls (2009) should include more documentation on the experiments of food intake in the elderly so that the readers are able to trust his statements. Morley (2001) declared that the decline is due to the reduction in physical activity and the total number of calories burned when the body is completely at rest that happens when one age. Other than that, Donini (2003) postulated that the usual social factors and psychological problems that often occur in the elderly which lead to a decrease of food intake are depression, poverty, loneliness, and social isolation.

Apart from that, gastrointestinal tract changes together with age may also become one of the reasons behind the reduced food intake of the elderly (Rolls, 2009). The statement stated here by Rolls (2009) might not be true as it has no evidence to prove it because no experiment is conducted regarding it. The author should provide a more solid reason to support its stand. The stomach and small intestine have a big impact on controlling the daily food intake of a human, the ascending nerve fibers in the autonomic nervous system and hormone signals are integrated in the nucleus tractus solitarius and the hypothalamus in order to induce satiation which stops the food intake (Morley, 2001). Francesco (2018) supported the statement by explaining the lack of production of nitric oxide at the level of the fundus of the elderly which lead to a loss of gastric compliance and more fast antral filling.

4.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, the overall article is very well stated and the research is shown clearly as the author provides two graphs to show the results of his research on mean changes in ratings for each food sample of the pleasantness of the taste of the food for two different age groups. It has provided a lot of examples of other research studies to give more valid evidence to support its statements. On the other hand, the author should provide more vague evidence on how aging leads to a decrease in appetite and carry out studies on the effect of food deprivation on hunger and food intake in the elderly in order to support his statement.