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The International Special Dietary Foods Industries (ISDI) supports both the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the WHO evidence-based guidelines for nutrition in older adults with or at risk of malnutrition. ISDI endorses the important role oral nutrition supplements can play to help maintain and improve the health, well-being, and functionality of adults 60 and older.

As people age, their health needs often become more complex and chronic. Yet most health systems today are better designed to address acute health conditions rather than to maintain healthy aging and often operate independently of long-term-care systems.

About the ESPEN Guideline

A new evidence-based guideline from ESPEN identifies that inadequate nutrition contributes to the progression of many diseases, whereas adequate nutrition is an important modulator of health and well-being in older people. Co-authored by 14 scientific experts, the ESPEN guideline provides 82 evidence-based recommendations for nutrition and hydration care in older people. The Guideline reinforces that older people should be routinely screened for malnutrition and provided appropriate nutritional assessment, interventions, and monitoring. This includes use of oral nutrition supplements in community, hospital, and post hospital settings.

“A systematic literature search for systematic reviews and primary studies was performed based on 33 clinical questions in population, intervention, comparison and outcome (PICO) format. Existing evidence was graded according to the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) grading system. Recommendations were developed and agreed in a multistage consensus process.”

About the WHO Guidelines on ICOPE

WHO’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE): Guidelines on Community-level Interventions to Manage Declines in Intrinsic Capacity include the recommendation of oral supplemental nutrition with dietary advice for older people with undernutrition and/or at risk of malnutrition. The Guidelines help address the “urgent need to develop and implement comprehensive and coordinated primary health care approaches that can prevent, slow, or reverse declines in intrinsic capacity, and where these declines are unavoidable, help older people to compensate in ways that maximize their functional ability.” The WHO convened expert group based its recommendation on a series of systematic reviews of the highest level of evidence on community-level care for older people.

The International Special Dietary Foods Industries (ISDI) supports the Access to Nutrition Foundation`s (ATNF) goal to encourage companies to increase consumer access to nutritious and affordable foods and beverages. Good nutrition in pregnancy and during the first few years of life has a critical impact on long-term health outcomes.

For more than a century, the infant and young child nutrition industry has provided high quality, safe and age-appropriate nutrition for pregnant mothers, infants, and young children, and offered education on healthy nutrition across the world. ISDI and its members will continue to promote good nutrition in pregnancy and during the first few years of life.

We take note of ATNF’s 2018 Global Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) and more specifically the Breast Milk Substitutes Marketing sub-ranking, including in-country assessments in Thailand and Nigeria. The sub-ranking benchmarks companies against the NetCode, which uses criteria different from the national laws and regulations. ISDI members follow the national laws and regulations in these countries, and all other countries in which they operate.

We also note that most of the reported non-compliance incidences relate to the practices of retailers and traders. Whilst it is necessary to ensure full legal compliance along the complex supply chain, it may not always be within the control of manufacturers.

ISDI and its members aim to work across industry, government and civil society to promote engagement, transparency and continuous improvement. We welcome a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, including the ATNF, to contribute to improving the health and nutrition of mothers, infants and young children.