Food Habits in the Elderly
Food habits in the elderly face special obstacles in maintaining an optimal diet. As individuals age, their need for calories declines, but their need for proper nutrients does not. Therefore, older aged people must corporate more nutrient dense foods into their diet and eat less of the foods full of calories. Elderly sometimes lose their appetites and don’t eat correctly. Various reasons can lead to a loss of appetite in an older person. They may not feel the necessity to eat due to lack of exercise or lack of energy expenditure. They may feel depressed or loneliness, due to a loss of a spouse. There may also be a more physical reason to their decline in appetite such as painful teeth or trouble chewing or swallowing. Some elderly can experience a diminished sense of taste or smell which could also result in a loss of appetite because food becomes less appealing. The elderly are typically on a fixed income and this may result in them feeling insecure and unable to purchase the more appealing foods or foods that would ensure them the proper nutrients. Some elderly are more accustomed to eating the same types, as well as quality and quantity, of foods that they have always eaten throughout their lives. They may not have the necessary knowledge, resources or simply realize that as their aged their bodies require different amounts of nutrients as they did when they were considerably younger. The medications that an older person is taking may also have a negative impact on their appetite. Whatever the reason, a loss of appetite is a contributing factor to the problems encountered in elderly adults of low body weight and unintentional weight loss. Weight loss in the older person can be an indication of a disease present. The possibility of diseases could be uncontrolled diabetes, congestive heart failure, or pulmonary disease .The initial