ALIMENTACION, NUTRICION Y ENVEJECIMIENTO: UN ANALISIS DESDE EL ENFOQUE SOCIAL DE DERECHOS

Demographic asymmetrical changes in the worlds population, related to the magnitude of aging, have led to urgent healthcare measures being taken, especially since the formulation of public policy aimed at the welfare of the elderly. This situation worsens in Latin-American countries where poverty is rife and there is inequality regarding access to basic social rights, including the right to food, because many of the elderly are vulnerable in such circumstances. Some suffer malnutrition and/or chronic and functional diseases, live in poverty or lack the privilege of receiving a state grant or pension whilst others have been abandoned by their families, are socially excluded or do not come within the bounds of comprehensive assistance programmes, leading to this community being undignied, having a poor quality of life and suffering nutritional deficiencies. Such situations should provide support for the formulation of policy aimed at protecting this population groups social fragility.