Malnutrition Of Older Adults : Malnutrition

There are three main ways that malnutrition can occur, either through impaired absorption, impaired nutritional intake or an increased metabolic demand. (Cartwright & Williams, 2002).

Under-nutrition is exceedingly a common condition among the elderly, and therefore, people are not aware that many of them also suffer from overweight and obesity. The aging process is not the cause of malnutrition but people have formed an opinion that there is a relation between malnutrition and the aging process. They forget that under-nutrition in the elderly is as a result of the following common risk factor such as; social isolation, stroke, housebound, gait and balance disorder, swallowing disorder, Parkinson's disease, adverse drug reactions, chronic pain, fractured hip, depression and recent hospitalization (Escott-Stump, 2008). Therefore, all these risk factors must be taken into consideration especially when managing an elderly person's nutrition.

The word means poor nutrition and malnutrition is a broad term referring to both under-nutrition and over-nutrition.

There are many nutrients we eat within our foods, these are vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and protein. Malnutrition is when an individual is not getting enough nutrients into the bod, this means their body will not function properly this can be dangerous as your immune system could stop working or shut down which means individuals will be open to more cold, flu’s, infections etc. Malnutrition can also include under nutrition and over nutrition.

Provision of adequate nutrition makes a major contribution towards improvement of cellular, clinical, biochemical and psychological status of the cancer patient in the face of the disease development and the side effects of diverse treatments. The principles of nutrition support include the following: Malnutrition persuades due to cancer and its treatment negatively affects the patient condition and complicates additional treatment of the disease. Malnutrition is not a mandatory response of the patient to cancer. A nutritional therapeutic program for patient requires examination of the factors bringing depletion in the patient. Every patient should have an early and periodic assessment of nutritional status. Nutrition therapy when specifies should be instituted early. The application and effectiveness of therapeutic programs must become element of general clinical process for inpatients and outpatients and general audit. The purposes of nutritional therapy are definitive and supportive. Nutritional status, anti-tumor treatment and growth of

In the last five years there has been a growth in the level of food insecurity among the aging population. In 2012 15.3% of the aging faced a threat of food insecurity. Further from 2001 to 2012 there was a 44% increase in the aging population experiencing hunger (Ziliak & Gundersen, 2013). In 2008 8.1% of households with an elderly individual living in the residence were food insecure, and 8.8% of the elderly living alone were food insecure (Coleman-Jenson, Nord, Andrews, & Carlson, 2009). After a dip in 2010 rates of food insecurity among the aging there was an increase in food insecurity among households with the elderly present and households of the elderly living alone (Coleman-Jenson, Nord, Andrews, & Carlson, 2011; Coleman-Jensen, Nord, & Singh; 2012, 2013). 2013 8.7% of households with elderly individuals were food insecure (Coleman-Jensen, Gregory, & Singh, 2014; Ziliak & Gundersen, 2014). Research has shown food insecurity leads to the reduction of nutritionally sufficient diets and poorer health status, thus this growth in food insecurity for the elderly is troubling as the elderly are already at risk for poor health outcomes (Lee & Frongillo, 2001; Stuff, et al., 2004).

Long term effects of malnutrition can cause children and adults to have a lack of energy

One age related illness that leads to malnutrition is Dementia as low levels of protein in the diet destroys brain cells and inhibits problems of memory loss, difficulty thinking and communicating. This causes the inability to communicate needs when it comes to eating. As dementia gets worse, the ability to remember flavours tampers with taste buds. At the same time taste buds diminish with age and the salivary glands start to dry up, this can have an effect on eating habits so food preferences can change frequently and be

When your body does not get enough nutrients such as fats, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals, it is known as malnutrition. Malnutrition is especially harmful in seniors who have specific dietary requirements due to medical complications such as heart disease or diabetes. Seniors suffering from dementia are at a particular risk of malnutrition.

Malnutrition is when the body doesn’t receive enough nutrients for proper function. Undernutrition is when one’s body could be underweight, too short for their age, or excessively thin and “receiving fewer calories than the minimum dietary energy requirement” (Withcott & Laposata, 2012). Overnutrition is a form of malnutrition but comes from eating too much, eating junk, lack of physical activities or just eating the wrong foods and the intake too many supplements. “Overnutrition leads to unhealthy weight gain, which leads to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems” (Withcott & Laposata, 2012). One is of the opinion that overnutrition is the most common in the United States. In our textbook by Withcott & Laposata, in the

According to Merriam Webster Online, malnutrition is defined as “the unhealthy condition that results from not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food.” A lack of nutrition or over-nutrition is associated with acute and long-term issues such as “poor wound healing, higher infection risks, increased hospital stays, and eventual mortality and morbidity.” (McCarthy, Dixon, Crabtree, Eaton-Evans, McNulty, 2012).

We live in a world full of so many resources and some parts of the world have an abundant amount and other do not. When living in the put of the world with a lot of resources we forget there are parts of the world that are still struggling for things, which for us are easy to find. But, in the same breath there are people who are having troubles within different communities’ right around us. The elder population is full of people who do not necessarily have the means to be able to take care of themselves. This does not apply to every elder, but nutrition is becoming a problem within their community. According to Helen (2014), “eating a balanced diet is the best way to stay physically and mentally strong in old age and there is a wealth of medical

Financial Status: Financial constraints can affect the ability of the elderly to afford adequate food/nutrition. This is a factor that leads to malnutrition in older adults.

      Physiological changes and changes in nutritional requirements are not the only cause of elderly malnutrition.  Illness and physical limitations often affect nutritional status, as 19.7% of people over age 65 have at least one disability and 28.8% reported a limitation caused by a chronic condition (9).  For

The general objective of this research paper is to increase awareness about a mostly hidden epidemic among the elderly. Studies show one in every two older people are at risk for malnutrition. (Drewnowski & Evans, 2001) Findings also show that hunger among the elderly is an enormous, far-reaching problem found in places across the globe, but the United States seems to be an unlikely place to find starvation where food is plentiful. Consequently, because of ineffective intervention, older adults are slowly starving to death in their homes, as well as independent living situations, nursing homes, and hospitals alike. It seems despite malnutrition being a preventable condition, the prevalence of the problem has