There is a continually rising number of elderly becoming at risk for malnourished or undernourished. Not receiving the proper nutrition can lead to health issues and thus can further lead to a loss of elderly independence. It is estimated that a third of the elderly population is at risk for malnutrition because they are not eating healthy, well-balanced diets.

These people could be your neighbors, your aunts or uncles, your grandparents or your parents. It is common for family and friends to not know how well an elderly person is eating. It is not something talked about often enough and it’s something that the elderly are not really aware of either.

There is a variety of reasons that lead to unhealthy eating for the elderly population. For some elderly, it’s a financial issue. They choose to buy medications needed over nutritious food. For others, it might be dentures that don’t fit, causing a chewing problem or that medication causes a bizarre taste, making food taste strange. Or it could possibly be that depression, loneliness, or illness has simply caused a loss of appetite.

Many times, these elderly citizens may not want to impose upon family members or care givers, so they simply ignore the problem or they might not even recognize that it’s a problem at all.

There are different agencies such as Senior Centers or Meals-on-Wheels that offer a hot meal during the week at a location or their home. These meals include protein, fruits, and vegetables. These meals can help senior citizens meet their daily nutritional requirements. Another organization, Angel Food Ministries, offers a meal plan for senior citizens. These meals are pre-packpaged and pre-measured. They are ordered monthly from a location such as church and are picked up within a few weeks from the same location. These meals are diabetic safe and are microwaveable. The meal package can be paid for a variety of ways including EBT (electronic benefits transfer).

Many organizations offer not only meals to senior citizens but also seminars on diet, nutrition, and healthy eating. These organizations also can offer many different services such as help grocery shopping, finding local resources (such as the SNAP program which is formerly known as food stamps), and other nutrition programs (such as local distribution of USDA foods.

It is important to remember that nutrition is an important part of a senior citizen’s daily life; good nutrition helps maintain health and well-being.

For information on the Angel Food Ministries food program, please visit http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

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