As the caregiver of an elderly parent, one the main areas you may support your parent in is eating right. Proper nutrition is always an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle but as our parents get older, it’s often common that eating properly is harder than ever. Seniors generally become less active and therefore eat less. Because they are eating less, it’s even more important that what they eat nutritious and filled with nutrients they need to maintain good health.
Several obstacles can make the desire to eat well and the ability to eat well a hard path to traverse. Having an elderly care provider in your parent’s life, can assist you in helping your parent make wise food choices.
Shopping can be the first obstacle many seniors have to overcome. Not only do they need safe transport to a local store (or have someone help them use an app or website to place food orders online), but they also need to know what to buy when they get there. As a caretaker, you can help by providing rides or lining up an elderly care provider to drive your parent to and from the grocery store as well as push the cart and/or help your parent reach items that are out of reach.
Another item to help your senior shop is the old-fashioned list! Whether your parent wants to write it down a piece of paper or use a list app on her phone, a list will ensure the right products get bought and not forgotten. To make sure good nutrient-rich items always make the list, have your parent always have categories that he fills in with what he would like to eat. Some important food categories to remember are:
- Whole grains and a variety of grains
- Variety and nutrient-density of fruits and vegetables
- Low-fat and nonfat dairy foods, including milk products with reduced lactose
- Oils low in saturated fats and lacking trans fats
- Low-saturated fat and vegetable choices in the meat-and-beans food group
- Fiber-rich foods in all food groups
If your senior is struggling with food ideas to fill each category, either yourself or your elderly care provider can help brainstorm some items that your senior may enjoy eating in each of these categories.
Once the shopping is complete, another possible stumbling block is meal prep. Some senior parents begin to lose the ability to complete a recipe or simply don’t have the energy for it. Have caregivers prep meals for the whole week that your senior can easily put in the microwave or oven to heat up and eat each day. You can use this time to bond together if you are able to do with your senior. Set up a day or evening each week to prep meals and your senior is sure to look forward to it.
Finally, sometimes eating alone can be lonely and actually decrease the appetite. An elderly care provider can be your parent’s lunch buddy to create the company needed to make each meal more enjoyable. Your elderly care professional can also help prepare the meal and clean up after so that your parent will not feel overwhelmed by additional tasks often required with preparing a home-made meal instead of a frozen meal.
Good food choices are an important part of your aging parent’s life and will affect all aspects of her quality of life.
Source: https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20071220/over70-adults-get-new-food-pyramid
If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring elderly care in Campbell, CA, please contact the caring staff at Home Helpers today (408) 317-4969.