Healthy Eating in Old Age

Early health education messages made the assumption that most recommendations made on healthy eating were irrelevant to the majority of elderly people. Discusses a new report by the UK Government which has challenged this idea and now suggests that the older generation should also reduce fat, sugar and alcohol intake and increase exercise to fall in line with the population in general. This approach creates difficulties because: the elderly are so diverse as a group; those in care have a range of very practical barriers to healthy eating; and staff of care homes have to balance nutritional requirements with the resident′s need for enjoyment. Despite the apparent problems healthy eating does have a role to play. Elderly people suffer from many degenerative disorders which respond to healthy eating in the form of nutritional therapy. This approach has numerous health benefits, not least because it may reduce the number of drugs a resident requires.