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Older Americans experience chronic disease at rates well above other segments of our society. Rates of health services use are also 2 to 3 times that of younger age groups. The most rapidly growing segments of America's aging population are also its most nutritionally vulnerable-women, minorities, and those 85 years of age and older. The routine incorporation of nutrition screening and intervention into chronic disease management protocols will lower healthcare services usage, decrease healthcare costs, help relieve the burden of human suffering experienced by older Americans with chronic disease, and improve quality of life for our nation's elders.

A large proportion of US adults struggle with limited literacy skills, which affect their ability to fully function in health care settings. This study evaluated the readability of English language American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) patient education materials.A random sample of 171 AAFP patient education materials was selected from a list of 518 health topics available via the Internet. The SMOG grade formula was used to measure readability of the written patient education materials.The mean SMOG grade level of AAFP patient education materials was 9.43 +/- 1.31 (range=6-12). This is higher than the average reading skills of US adults.Our results support and extend the findings of other readability studies across many medical specialties, all of which find that patient education materials are written at a difficulty level that is too high. The AAFP and individual family physicians should strive to improve communication with their patients by providing educational materials that are written at an appropriate reading level.