Nutrition and ageing in Africa

Although the proportion of elderly people in African populations is much smaller than that in developed countries, the absolute numbers of older Africans are rapidly increasing. The huge majority of Africans live in poor economic circumstances and few countries are able to offer social assistance programs. The health and wellbeing of older persons largely depend on the integral existence of informal services, social support networks and kin support. African gerontologists have urged social welfare policy makers to take cognizance of self-organized intergenerational help systems already present on the continent, and to make public-sector finance available to support these systems. Nutrition service programs should be included in such support systems