The "fourth meal" of nutrition is a general term for a type of food that can promote health, usually referring to dietary supplements, including health foods, special medical formula foods, special dietary foods, and other general foods with certain functional properties. Recently, the Chinese Gerontology and Geriatrics Society released the 2023 Fourth Diet Blue Book on Nutrition for the Middle and Elderly, emphasizing the necessity and scientific importance of comprehensively popularizing nutritional supplements. The phenomenon of covert nutritional needs rather than insufficient satiety due to imbalanced nutrition or a lack of certain or partial nutrients, as well as excessive intake of other nutrients, is called "latent hunger". According to the fourth blue book data on nutrition for middle-aged and elderly people, over 2 billion people worldwide are currently experiencing "hidden hunger", and China is one of the countries severely challenged by the problem of "hidden hunger" in the world. In recent years, China's dietary nutrition needs have shifted from being full to being well fed and eating right. To maintain health, the human body not only requires a large amount of nutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, but also vitamins and trace elements. Ding Dongmei, a researcher at the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention: According to the latest report on the nutritional and chronic disease status of Chinese residents, we can see that different populations have different problems, but overall, each population will have an unreasonable dietary structure. The main age groups for nutritional deficiency are children under 5 years old, especially infants and young children under 2 years old, young adult women, and those aged 60 and above, especially those aged 80 and above. The nutritional deficiency rate also needs to be paid attention to. Experts believe that strengthening nutrition through the "fourth meal" to reduce the risk of chronic diseases is particularly important for elderly people, as it can effectively reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Loose and detached teeth, poor chewing of food, combined with weak gastrointestinal contractions and decreased secretion of digestive enzymes, seriously affect the digestion and absorption of protein, vitamins, and minerals in middle-aged and elderly people. The "fourth meal" of nutrition can improve and prevent the problem of uneven intake of corresponding nutrients in middle-aged and elderly people. Shi Hanping, Vice President of the China Nutrition and Health Food Association: First of all, can you conduct an evaluation? Is the first age approximately 65 years old? Secondly, has your diet decreased? Have you lost any weight? Has your physical activity ability decreased or decreased? If there is any problem, it is a risk. It should be evaluated according to the guidance of doctors and dietitian, and the "fourth meal" should be taken under the guidance of professionals. (New News Agency)