There are many nutrition and lifestyle actions that Americans should
consider that will influence the risk of developing disease. Cardiovascular disease,
diabetes, osteoporosis and cancer have many risk factors that are both modifiable and
non-modifiable. This chapter reviews these diseases and nutritional strategies and
lifestyle changes that are useful in reducing the risk for developing disease. Since
disease is frequently associated with malnutrition it is essential for health professionals
to be able to screen for the risk of malnutrition and understand the criteria for its
diagnosis.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol,
diabetes, disease-related malnutrition, glucose load, glycemic index, Heart-check
mark, hypertension, inflammation, metabolic syndrome, modifiable risk factors,
obesity, osteopenia, osteoporosis, pre-diabetes, the DASH eating plan.
