La Jolla Senior Care News

What You Should Know about Malnutrition in the Elderly

Elderly Care in Coronado CA

Elderly Care in Coronado CA

Elderly Care in Coronado CAEating is one of the most basic needs of life. When it comes to your role as a family caregiver for your aging parent, you must think beyond just making sure that your parent eats, to ensuring that they eat enough and the right foods. Malnutrition is a serious concern among the elderly and can contribute to a wide variety of health complications and concerns. Understanding this risk is a critical step in evaluating your parent’s wellbeing and taking steps to support better health and wellbeing throughout their later years.

Some things that you should know about malnutrition in the elderly include:

  • Approximately 1 in 3 of the millions of older adults who are hospitalized each year is suffering from malnutrition at the time that they enter the hospital. This does not account for the millions of others who are not hospitalized and may go undetected.
  • Malnutrition means that a person is not getting the nutritional requirements that they need to support their wellbeing and their optimum functioning.
  • Your parent does not have to be underweight in order for them to be considered malnourished. In fact, many people who are obese are suffering from malnutrition because while they eat a large amount, they do not eat the proper foods.
  • Malnutrition can also be caused by medical conditions that make it difficult or impossible for their body to properly absorb the nutrients that it needs.

Malnutrition can be caused by a wide variety of factors. Older adults tend to eat less than younger adults and when they do eat, they are likely to rely on familiar foods. This can result in them eating largely the same menu over and over, diminishing the variety of foods that they eat and not giving them the range of nutrients that are essential for proper functioning. They may also suffer from issues such as reduced sense of taste and smell that decrease their interest in eating so they are even less likely to eat the wide range of food necessary to keep them healthy. If you think that your parent might be malnourished, make an appointment to discuss your concerns with their doctor. This will give them the opportunity to evaluate your parent, determine if they are malnourished, and put plans into place to help them overcome this risk.

If you are concerned that your aging parent is at risk of malnutrition, elder care may be the ideal solution for helping protect them. This elderly home care services provider acts as an extension of the care that you give to your parent to help them focus on not only eating enough, but also eating the right things. They can accomplish this through accompanying your parent to the grocery store to help them make the right decisions, assist in meal and snack preparation so that they are more capable of eating a varied and healthy diet, and offering companionship during meal and snack times to encourage them to eat more.

La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Costa, CA, and the surrounding communities."}” data-sheets-userformat=”{"2":767,"3":{"1":0},"4":{"1":2,"2":10667209},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"9":2,"10":2,"12":0}”>For more information about how the caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, call 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable elderly care in Coronado, CA, and the surrounding communities.

Source:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/caregivers/in-depth/senior-health/art-20044699

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-b-blancato/senior-malnutrition-a-nat_b_6832238.html

Brittnei Salerno

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