Brussels, 02/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - On 29-30 November in Brussels, the European Commission organised a workshop entitled, "Research into Nutrition and Ageing". During this event around a dozen large-scale projects from European Union funded European research projects were presented in the context of the fifth and sixth framework programmes. These studies focused, for example, on the effect of certain lipids on preventing several forms of senile dementia and the impact of vitamin D supplements in fighting osteoporosis. The workshop set out to evaluate the progress accomplished in the fifth framework programme and the prospects provided by recently implemented projects in the sixth framework programmes. It also aimed to help learn the lessons on healthcare and define priorities for future research.
The proportion of pensioners in the European population is currently around 20% and is expected to reach 25% by 2020 (World Health Organisation, WHO 2002). The most spectacular demographic changes involve the highest age group (80 and above). According to the estimates, the number of people aged over 80 in Europe is expected to go from 21.4 million in 2000 to 35 million in 2025.