Elderly Starve While Kids Fatter

Herald Sun

July 12, 2008

Australia

Australia is one of the world's fattest nations, yet our elderly are starving.

Dietitians say up to 85 per cent of elderly people are malnourished, which lowers their life expectancy.

In a submission to the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, the Dietitians Association of Australia also warned of problems with new pre-school health checks.

It said the Government had not considered how to provide services to the families of overweight children, setting them up to fail.

Dietitians are pushing to be able to offer services under Medicare to those at risk from poor nutrition.

But they face stiff resistance from doctors, who want patients to see GPs first.

The association said there was an urgent need to boost access to dietitians, especially for the elderly.

"Australia has an epidemic of malnutrition," the DAA said.

"This health issue is most significant with our ageing population."

It said 40-85 per cent of older Australians were malnourished, and 15-30 per cent of acute care patients were admitted to hospital with malnutrition.

DAA executive director Claire Hewat said routine dietary screening was needed.

"A lot of elderly people are confined to their homes and reliant on Meals on Wheels -- which, despite its best intentions, does not provide enough food to keep them alive.

"Or they can't afford food, or even if they can get their hands on it, they can't cook it."

At the other end of the scale, she said obese children needed help.

"If a child is diagnosed with obesity, where do they go? The waiting lists for the public system are years in some places," she said.

"There is no access under Medicare to dietitians for something like childhood obesity."

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said that the Government was serious about fixing problems in the health system.

"If some of the most vulnerable members of our community are suffering malnutrition, that requires serious attention," she said.

She said children needed the best chance at a healthy start.

"Kids who need support for any health or developmental problem will be able to get advice and support from their GP, who may then refer them to specialists if more assistance is required," Ms Roxon said.

Disability pensioner John Alexander, 62, spends more money on medication than he does food.

After spending a quarter of his pension on public housing and $150 a month on medicine for his kidney illness and diabetes, he is left with little to nourish himself.

He lives on one main meal a day delivered by Meals on Wheels, which costs him $37.50 a week, and eats 49c cans of spaghetti in between.

"Older people are going without fresh food -- they simply can't afford it," said Mr Alexander, of Northcote.

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