The proportion of the population over 65 years of age is increasing steadily in most industrialized countries. In the United States the proportion of elderly people has risen from four percent in 1900 to 11 % in 1978, and is projected to be 14% by the year 2000. The occurrence of debilitating chronic diseases in the elderly increases with each additional year. These diseases, along with the natural loss of tissue function that occurs throughout adult life, impose a heavy burden on the health care system. Nutri tion plays an important etiologic role in many of these degenerative changes. Conse...