The good news, Platts-Mills says, is that if they can be identified, many seniors who are at risk can be linked to services like Meals-On-Wheels and food pantries that can help them get access to good quality food.

"For some of these patients, we're not going to change what happens — they may have a terminal illness," he says. "But for others, we can have a lasting impact on health and quality of life. That's a group we should be identifying nationally, and we're talking about a relatively inexpensive intervention."

According to Feeding America, a national food assistance organization, seniors are among the most food insecure of all people in the U.S.; one in three recurrent food bank clients is 60 or older.

Some food banks are now specifically targeting the elderly, like one in rural Arkansas profiled in this National Geographic multimedia feature on hunger.

Copyright 2014 NPR.

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