The primary focus in education and teaching of the chair group is to contribute to a better understanding of the interplay between diet - food, energy and nutrients - and functional health: optimal physical and mental performance under different conditions. Our overarching theme is “nutrition and healthy ageing”. In this context, ageing is defined as the combination of, progressive physiological and functional changes associated with advancing age. This subject is approached from different perspectives, in particular cognition and cognitive decline, the role of the musculoskeletal system about physical fitness, frailty and self-management, and the involvement of the gastro-intestinal tract as a determinant of general health and nutrient bio-availability.