Importance of Proper Nutrition in Elderly Population

This presentation discusses the nutritional requirements of elderly people and the impact of ageing on their dietary needs. It highlights the benefits of proper nutrition and provides tactics to help elderly people achieve their nutritional requirements. The presentation also covers the energy requirements for elderly people, the kind of diet needed by them, and how they can know whether they are taking a balanced diet or are malnourished. Additionally, it discusses nursing interventions to improve nutrition in older people.

N A M E O F T H E S T U D E N T :
N A M E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y:
IMPORTANCE OF PROPER
NUTRITION IN ELDERLY
POPULATION

Introduction
 Nutritional requirements of
elderly people change
because of ageing related
changes
 The ageing related changes
has impact on nutritional
needs of elderly
 Older people are more
vulnerable to malnutrition
and this consequently
increases risk of
cardiovascular disease,
diabetes and cancer
(Who.int., 2018).

Knowing the reasons for changes in dietary needs with aging:
At old age, people become less
active and body metabolism
decreases. Hence, their energy
requirement changes.
Lower intake of health food in
elderly people is seen due to
loss of appetite
Physiological changes in
digestive system due to ageing
decreases energy intake and
lead to weight loss
Older people tend to take less
food because of common
complaints like early satiation
and increased fullness (Amarya,
Singh & Sabharwal, 2015).

Nutritional changes encountered in elderly
people due to ageing process:
Ageing related changes and
diseases like cardiovascular
disease, osteoarthritis, and
pulmonary disease lead to muscle
loss and change in energy
requirements.
Age related renal impairment
decreases function of anti-diuretic
hormones and increases risk of
rehydration. This results in poor
fluid intake.
Elderly people above 65 years have
compromised immune system thus
increasing the risk of infection in
elderly people. This modified food
intake patterns due to changes in
metabolic rate (Amarya, Singh &
Sabharwal, 2015).

Benefits of proper nutrition for elderly
people:
A well balanced mix of foods and nutrients can
provide the following benefits to senior people:
Low risk of chronic diseases like CVD, diabetes
and other disease
Low risk of infection
Reduces high blood pressure and cholesterol
Healthy diet increases mental capacity and
increases the capacity to live longer
It increase rate of infection and minimizes rate
of hospital stay

What are the energy requirements for elderly people?
Older people have reduced
energy requirements
compared to young adults
This is due to reduced basal
metabolic rate and decrease
in physical activity levels
The Daily Recommended
Intakes (DRI) for energy for
adults may adjusted for age
to determine the energy
requirements of older adults
The energy requirements in
males and females as per age
difference can be reviewed
from table provided. Table 1: Average energy
requirements in males and
females as per age. Source:
(Nutrition.org.uk., 2017).

What kind of diet is needed by older adults?
Older adults above 65
years old require 1.2 g of
protein per kg body
weight compared to 0.8
grams of protein/kg body
weight in younger adults.
Older adults can increases
source of protein in their
diet by eating eggs, dairy
products like yogurt, low
fat milks and cheeses and
soy milk (Nowson &
O'Connell, 2015).

What kind of diet is needed by older adults?
Older adults must focus on
consuming nutrient dense foods
like low fat milk to boost calcium
intake
They must have protein, lean
meats and eggs to get adequate
amount of protein and prevent
compromised immune function
They must include dietary fibres
in their diet such as peas, soy
producst and lentils
In addition, dark green
vegetables and high fibre
cereals must be taken by older
people (Beelen, de Roos, & De
Groot, 2017).

How can older people know whether they are taking
balanced diet or they are malnourished?
Older adults can undergo nutritional
assessment to understand whether they are
malnourished or taking well-balanced diet.
Clinicians in hospital setting do this by several
tools like The Mini-Nutritional Assessment
Short Form (MNA-SF).

MNA-SF FORM

Convenience offered by MNA-SFscreening tool
to elderly people during nutritional assessment
The MNA-SF is a screening tool used for
nutritional assessment of older adults above
65 years. It particularly helps to identify risk
of malnutrition or identify individuals who are
malnourished.
Advantage: No laboratory data is needed for
screening. Hence, for elderly people it will be
hassle free procedure as it takes lesser time
for assessment in primary care setting
No laboratory data is needed for screening.

Tactics to help elderly people achieve nutritional
requirements:
1. Encouraging elders to adapt
‘food first’ approach:
In case of adults who are
malnourished or at risk of
malnourishment, they must be
encourage to adapt the ‘Food
First’ approach.
It involves eating small but
frequent high energy meals and
snacks
This can ensure adequate energy
intake in older people.
There should be focus on dietary
quality and achieving desired
micronutrients intake while taking
small frequent meals
(nutrition.org, 2018).

Tactics to help elderly people achieve
nutritional requirements:
2. Providing oral nutritional
supplements to elderly
people
As older people may find it
difficult to understand energy
requirements in different
foods, they can also be
provided oral nutritional
supplements to ensure that
older people get enough
nutrients.
Oral nutritional supplements
are particularly beneficial for
older adults who are
hospitalized for longer time.

Tactics to help elderly people achieve nutritional
requirements:
3. Behavioral changes in older people to improve
dietary intake:
Older adults may be encourage to implement life style
changes to become active and improve healthy eating
habits
Encouraging older adults to exercise can also have
impact of healthy eating habits of older adults
Exercise is necessary to improve diet as well as
quality of life
As adherence to exercise is a barrier in many older
adults, home or group based activity like counseling
may help them to adhere to exercise routines.

Tactics to help elderly people achieve nutritional
requirements:
4. Motivational strategies for healthy eating in
older adults:
All dietary intake guidelines and nutritional
intervention may fail when older adults do not have
the motivation to changes their food choices.
Hence, motivating older adults to changes health
behavior and lifestyle is important.
The attitude of older people against different food
needs to be changes and they must be made aware
about the benefits of different food items for their
health

Summary of the benefits of proper
nutrition for elderly people
• Reduction in mortality rates
• Recovery of lean body mass and weight loss
• Improvement in functional outcomes
• Improvement in physical activity, gait speed
and energy
• Increase in muscle strength
• Prevention of the condition of sarcopenia

Nursing intervention to improve nutrition in
older people
Intervention: Educational strategies to improve diet of older
adults.
Lack of knowledge regarding energy requirement is the major
reason for malnourishment in older adults. The nurse can play the
following role in providing nutrition education to older adults:
Nutrition education can reduce complications, promote health and
improve quality of older adults
Nurses can education patients about the daily intake of food and
increase in intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grain and vitamins.
Nurse can educate them about adequate fluid intake and the
importance of staying hydrated
Nurse can play a role in preparing and serving the right portion to
them (Gracias, 2013).

Reference
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