Nutrition : An Important Aspect For The Health Of Elderly Essay

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.

According to the Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI) 40% to 60 % of hospitalized older adults are malnourished or at risk; 40% to 85% of nursing home resident are malnourished, and 20% to 60% of home care patients are also suffering from malnourishment. Malnutrition is associated with loner lengths of stay in hospitals, increased costs, diminished muscle strength, wounds that heal poorly, risk for pressure ulcers, infections, and postoperative complications Amella & DiMaria-Ghalili, p.42). Their health and independence are affected. They are at risk for increased risk for fall and

The Nutrition Screening Initiative (NSI) was developed in order to address the prevalence of malnutrition among older adults. This initiative represents the work of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Dietetic Association to create a coalition whose goal is to promote the integration of nutrition screening and intervention into healthcare for older adults. NSI helps to increase older adults' awareness about nutrition and health. It differentiates among adequate nutritional status, malnutrition risk and

It is critical to know the association between muscle mass measured using BIA and the COAST scores, and handgrip strength since this will reveal the better predictor of malnutrition. As a result, the early exploration of malnutrition can help to apply an appropriate nutrition intervention especially after nutritional assessment to decrease the consequences of malnutrition among older adults and so reduce the cost of health care.

People in different age groups have different nutritional needs. For example, it is important that a woman who is over 50 years old take vitamins and minerals

The article titled “Is there adequate feeding assistance” by Tsang is about elderly patients who are elderly and observe those patients at different meal times. Tsang (2008) stated, “Poor nutritional intake and undernourishment has been documented in as many as 61% of hospitalized elderly patients” (p. 222). There have been other studies done that show that elderly patients are at a specific risk of malnutrition because of high food wastage (Tsang, 2008). One reason for malnutrition was due to the patient not having adequate eating assistance. The goals of this study were to observe the patients during mealtimes and determine what time of assistance is needed, explore if the patients are receiving enough assistance at mealtimes, and evaluate

When dealing with elderly people not only do you have to worry about their nutrition ,you also have to worry about the physical , social , mental and obviously the nutrition needs of an elderly person.

One in three elderly hospital patients suffer from malnutrition but go largely unnoticed by hospital staff; Australian research has revealed. The study, in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics published by Wiley-Blackwell, found risk factors for malnutrition, such as recent weight loss and poor appetite, were being overlooked, and malnourished patients were not being referred to dieticians.

The epidemiological data from Age UK (2015) states that out of the 3 million malnourished or at risk over 1 million are over the age of 65. The British Nutrition Foundation states that ‘’in the UK, life expectancy has doubled over the last 200 years and now around 16% of the population is aged over 65 years’’. There are campaigns in place in order to tackle malnutrition in later life. Programmes such as the malnutrition task force which is malnutrition prevention campaign for the 1 million over 65 older people who are malnourished or at risk of being malnourished, this program is funded by the department of health. As stated by the Malnutrition Task Force, (2012) this program is the government response to the Francis report. The Francis report recommendation 241 states that ‘providing food and drinks for elderly patients should constantly be reviewed, monitored and

Typically, older adults need fewer calories because they may not be as active and metabolic rate declines. Older adults still require the same or higher levels of nutrients for optimal health. Older adults tend to lose some ability to taste, therefore they may over season their food. They may be really increasing their salt intake which can be a problem if they are not drinking enough fluids. In older adults, we see malnutrition and we also see obesity. Different dietary plans are may be used to accommodate nutritional needs based on the older adult’s physical condition. Heart failure diets may be implicated for older adults in heart failure. Reduced salt and fluid intake are extremely important in the heart failure diet. Diets and nutritional

Nutrition is an very important factor of health and affects the aging process in the elderly population. Malnutrition is increasing in this population and is connected with a decline in decreasing bone mass, reducing cognitive function, functional status, impairing immune function, poor wound healing, anemia and increasing hospital readmission rates, as well as mortality. As aging process, with a decline in physiological and biological functions such as reduced lean body mass, changes in cytokine and hormonal level, and changes in fluid electrolyte regulation, delay gastric emptying and diminish senses of smell and taste, elderly people usually reduce their appetite and energy expenditure. Additionally, pathologic changes of aging such as

Over the years there has been considerably increase in the knowledge about nutrient need and nutrition status of the elderly population. A regular standard is hard to set for the elderly population because individual different become more pronounced in the elderly population (Whitney & Rolfes, 2015, p. 564). It is important to pay attention to the nutrients needs in the elderly as there are increasing number aging population. Paying attention to their vitamin and minerals needs and factors that may contribute to their varying nutrient needs can help enhance their health.

Health is a relative expression of metabolic efficiency, and is a valued state of existence in individuals especially during adulthood. Food intake is directly associated with the health and wellbeing of a person. Background: Co existence of under nutrition and obesity is a matter of major concern. Objective: It was proposed to develop data base about the mean nutrient intake, its difference among genders, and anthropometric profile of adult population and association between BMI and WHR. Methodology: Demographic data, nutrient intake (diary technique), energy expenditure (WHO method) and anthropometric measurements (height, weight, MUAC, waist and hip circumferences) were obtained using standard procedures. 70 couples aged 45-54 yrs who were free from degenerative disease from different socioeconomic classes (SEC) of Karkala and Moodbidri Taluks formed the subjects. Results: All the participant were educated, regarding occupation, 41% men had business and 58% women were homemakers others had varied kind of jobs. 51% couples were non vegetarians. Mean nutrient (Energy) intakes of male and females partners respectively are: 1916.0 ±368.470 and 1745.0±560.764 kcals; 50.3±8.170 and 51.27±24.569g protein, 32.4±5.997 and 56.91±20.946g fat; Compared to RDA, intake of all nutrients except fat and calcium was markedly low. Both men and women had normal BMI however WHR was higher indicating central obesity (1.08±0.14 and 1.08±0.13); MUAC was 29.05±6.29 and 24.74±9.28 cms for males

Malnutrition contributes to undernutrition and overnutrition and is also a deficiency of nutrition. Agents that cause malnutrition are poor diet and repeated infections which is particularly in underprivileged populations. Inadequate diet and disease are linked in to your common guideline living and environmental conditions, and are linked in with meeting the primary needs such as housing, food, and health care. Malnutrition is a health outcome as well as a risk factor for diseases. There are over two billion individuals in the world that suffer from many forms of malnutrition. Malnutrition is an basic cause of death of over 2.5 million children each year. Undernutrition reports for 12 percent of the global burden of disease

Based on a statement, a nutrient deficiency occurs when a person lacks one or more nutrients in a period of time. This deficiency is classified as primary and secondary. The Primary deficiencies are commonly caused by an improper diet and can be assessed by based on asking the patients diet history. While the Secondary deficiencies are caused by a problem inside of the body. In addition, nutrient deficiency commonly results in malnutrition. The most prone of malnutrition are the infants, preschool children, adolescents, the elderly, and the pregnant women. If parents do not know about proper nutrition it will make their children prone to the illness. Infants and preschool children depend on their mother’s selection of food. Preschool children may face additional hazard because they are particular about what they eat.