Poor Diet Puts the Elderly at Risk

By Kim Thomas, Canterbury Press

New Zealand

August 30, 2008

Many patients admitted to hospital are malnourished, putting pressure on the health system and causing premature death among the elderly.

A study has found that between 10 per cent and 60% of people admitted to British hospitals were either malnourished or at a significant risk of malnutrition.

Leading New Zealand dietitians believe the situation is the same here.

The problem was likely to cause premature death among the elderly, increase the number of days patients spent in hospital and increase by a third a patient's risk of infection, dietitians said.

The manager of clinical dietetics at Health Waikato, Helen Wallwork, said her study of hospital patients aged over 65 found that more than half were malnourished.

"This is a really big issue for our health system," she said.

Many patients went to hospital malnourished and left in even worse condition, Wallwork said.

If their surgery was delayed, people had nothing by mouth, making their malnourishment worse, she said.

Julian Jensen, a Christchurch dietitian and chairwoman of the older persons' working group for the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation, said malnourishment was "a really huge issue, especially for the elderly".

Jensen said rest homes often did not consult a dietitian to ensure their menus had sufficient nutrients for the elderly.

Many frail elderly people lost their appetite or needed help feeding, and if this was not addressed in rest homes, their weight could plummet, she said.

This could lead to elderly people dying prematurely because of malnourishment, Jensen said.

Hospitals and rest homes needed to be more aware of the problem and adjust their menus accordingly, she said.

Ministry of Health nutrition and physical activity team leader Elizabeth Aitken said the ministry relied on district health boards, which ran hospitals, to inform them of issues relating to malnutrition.

"Although the ministry is aware that malnutrition in hospitals is a concern internationally, no health board has formally advised the ministry that malnutrition among hospital inpatients is a significant issue for them," Aitken said.

The ministry was updating its food and nutrition guidelines for elderly people for use by dietitians, nutritionists, geriatricians and nurses, she said.

It was also developing guidelines that would mean people in rest homes were assessed to see whether nutrition was an issue.

Affected people would be referred to an appropriate health professional, Aitken said.

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