Elderly at Risk with Poor Eating

The Marlborough Express

June 4, 2008

New Zealand

The number of people being kept in hospital due to malnutrition may be coming down, but the problem of the aged poor not getting enough to eat is still out there.

Nelson president Gordon Currie said only the worst cases were being picked up when patients went to hospital for other problems and had to stay for extended periods due to malnourishment, and the true extent of the problem would likely never be known.

He said rising living costs, combined with the Government's desire to keep the elderly in their own homes, was only going to exacerbate the problem. Pride and an unwillingness to be a burden on the system meant elderly people were unlikely to seek help.

Figures from the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board show that during the past five years the number of patients treated for malnutrition at Wairau Hospital has fluctuated, from five in 2003, jumping to 11 the following year, then dropping again to seven in 2005.

So far this year there two people have been treated for malnutrition at Wairau, though the figures didn't identify the age group.

Marlborough Grey Power's new president Jean Wilson, who is also a member of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority consumer's committee, said a lot of older people got to the point where they forgot to cook for themselves or they found it too tiring.

"For different reasons they just don't cook for themselves. They can't get to the shop or they're so independent they don't want people to think they can't cope."

Mrs Wilson said the FSA puts out a pamphlet with the New Zealand Nutrition Foundation called Good Food, Safe Food for Older People, encouraging the elderly to survey their eating habits, such as eating a snack every two or three hours, and to seek help if they need it.

"I've been giving them to the hospitals through the health board." said Mrs Wilson. "With the rising cost of living, the basics of milk, cheese and bread ... all those things going up and they're the easy things for people to deal with instead of having to cook a big meal."

Mr Currie said he knew of people being delivered meals by the Meals on Wheels service but keeping half frozen, "just in case".

Almost invariably, families were unaware of the problem and were "absolutely gobsmacked" when they found out, as elderly people tended to deny there was an issue, Mr Currie said.

A study of how widespread the problem was had not been carried out in New Zealand but studies in the United Kingdom, the US and Australia signalled it was "daunting", she said.

Nelson Marlborough District Health Board secondary services nurse consultant Marion Elvy said all hospital inpatients were questioned about their diet and assessed for their risk of malnourishment. Body mass index, weight loss, and appetite were monitored and appropriate action taken when necessary.

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