Reflection of Nutrition and Aging Lecture
Today in OCP Older Adults, Ashley Ludlow came to talk to us about Aging and Nutrition. I really enjoyed learning from her expertise on diet and nutrition as it relates to aging populations, and my main takeaways from her lecture were as follows:
• Nutrition in elderly populations can be addressed through primary, secondary, or tertiary prevention. Primary prevention will aim to slow down the aging process, secondary prevention will aim to slow the progression of a chronic nutrition-related disease, and tertiary prevention involves medical nutrition therapy.
• 1 in 8 Americans experience food insecurity and do not have access to foods that support a healthy diet and lifestyle. Those who are food insecure are 30% more likely to experience decline in ADL performance.
• Elderly populations are 50% more likely to develop diabetes and 14% more likely to develop hypertension.
• Loneliness/social isolation has the same health effect of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 50% of seniors are considered lonely/isolated, and 10% are considered severely lonely or isolated.
• Age-related loss in muscle mass is referred to as sarcopenia. Individuals hit their peak muscle mass at age 30 and then experience a decrease in muscle mass from that age, losing 8% per decade at age 40 and 15% per decade at age 70.
• If an individual is not taking in an adequate amount of amino acids through diet, his or her body will remove protein from muscle and use it for energy, which results in a loss of muscle mass.
• Elderly patients lose >10% lean leg mass within 3 days of hospitalization, and healthy elderly patients lose 10% lean leg mass after 10 days of inactivity.
• A loss of lean muscle mass can be devastating and can result in increased risk of infection, decreased healing, cause them to be too weak to sit, development of pressure ulcers/pneumonia, and can even lead to death.
• Loss of lean muscle mass also causes a decrease in strength/endurance, increased risk of falls and fractures, loss of independence, weakened immune system, weakness/fatigue, increased susceptibility to illness, and decreased quality of life.
• You can observe an individual’s functional status/grip strength in order to determine if they have low body mass (huge role that OT can take on through referral to dietician if low body mass/malnourishment is detected).
• Both exercise (especially strength-training) and nutrition (timing and quantity of protein intake) can have effect on sarcopenia over time.
• Regarding exercise, it is recommended that elderly populations engage in 30+ minutes of endurance exercise for most days of week. Resistance/flexibility exercises for 20 minutes two or three times a week, and regular exercises for balance to help avoid injuries and prevent falls.
• Malnutrition refers to any nutritional imbalance that may be represented by undernutrition or overnutrition by the presence of two or more of the following characteristics: insufficient energy intake, weight loss, edema, decreased functional status/grip strength, loss of fat (esp. under eyes), and loss of muscle mass. Many of these are changes that OTs can detect and report in treatment notes/evaluations!
• Older adults, individuals with chronic disease, individuals who have been hospitalized, and residents of long-term care facilities are at risk for malnutrition.
• Malnutrition treatment requires adequate energy and nutrients to correct deficits in addition to participation in physical activity to strengthen muscles and improve physical function.
• Proper nutrition increases functionality, increases independence, and increases quality of life! It is important to know your RDs, identify issues, educate doctors and your patients, encourage intake of meals/supplements, and even have patients bring their supplements to therapy to use during treatment session or to drink during break.
Appropriate OT interventions to address proper nutrition in older adult populations would be:
• 1:1 session with client – Client education (could be during self-feeding activity) on importance of eating protein-rich foods/supplements that will prevent malnutrition, promote muscle strength, decrease the effects of sarcopenia, and maintain maximal independence and quality of life as a result.
• Group session – OT can lead group OT session in a kitchen in which older adult clients in an assisted living facility have the opportunity to prepare and taste different protein-rich foods (such as pan-fried salmon or scrambled eggs) that they can then incorporate into their diet to increase muscle mass/strength and functional performance in ADLs.
• Nutrition in elderly populations can be addressed through primary, secondary, or tertiary prevention. Primary prevention will aim to slow down the aging process, secondary prevention will aim to slow the progression of a chronic nutrition-related disease, and tertiary prevention involves medical nutrition therapy.
• 1 in 8 Americans experience food insecurity and do not have access to foods that support a healthy diet and lifestyle. Those who are food insecure are 30% more likely to experience decline in ADL performance.
• Elderly populations are 50% more likely to develop diabetes and 14% more likely to develop hypertension.
• Loneliness/social isolation has the same health effect of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 50% of seniors are considered lonely/isolated, and 10% are considered severely lonely or isolated.
• Age-related loss in muscle mass is referred to as sarcopenia. Individuals hit their peak muscle mass at age 30 and then experience a decrease in muscle mass from that age, losing 8% per decade at age 40 and 15% per decade at age 70.
• If an individual is not taking in an adequate amount of amino acids through diet, his or her body will remove protein from muscle and use it for energy, which results in a loss of muscle mass.
• Elderly patients lose >10% lean leg mass within 3 days of hospitalization, and healthy elderly patients lose 10% lean leg mass after 10 days of inactivity.
• A loss of lean muscle mass can be devastating and can result in increased risk of infection, decreased healing, cause them to be too weak to sit, development of pressure ulcers/pneumonia, and can even lead to death.
• Loss of lean muscle mass also causes a decrease in strength/endurance, increased risk of falls and fractures, loss of independence, weakened immune system, weakness/fatigue, increased susceptibility to illness, and decreased quality of life.
• You can observe an individual’s functional status/grip strength in order to determine if they have low body mass (huge role that OT can take on through referral to dietician if low body mass/malnourishment is detected).
• Both exercise (especially strength-training) and nutrition (timing and quantity of protein intake) can have effect on sarcopenia over time.
• Regarding exercise, it is recommended that elderly populations engage in 30+ minutes of endurance exercise for most days of week. Resistance/flexibility exercises for 20 minutes two or three times a week, and regular exercises for balance to help avoid injuries and prevent falls.
• Malnutrition refers to any nutritional imbalance that may be represented by undernutrition or overnutrition by the presence of two or more of the following characteristics: insufficient energy intake, weight loss, edema, decreased functional status/grip strength, loss of fat (esp. under eyes), and loss of muscle mass. Many of these are changes that OTs can detect and report in treatment notes/evaluations!
• Older adults, individuals with chronic disease, individuals who have been hospitalized, and residents of long-term care facilities are at risk for malnutrition.
• Malnutrition treatment requires adequate energy and nutrients to correct deficits in addition to participation in physical activity to strengthen muscles and improve physical function.
• Proper nutrition increases functionality, increases independence, and increases quality of life! It is important to know your RDs, identify issues, educate doctors and your patients, encourage intake of meals/supplements, and even have patients bring their supplements to therapy to use during treatment session or to drink during break.
Appropriate OT interventions to address proper nutrition in older adult populations would be:
• 1:1 session with client – Client education (could be during self-feeding activity) on importance of eating protein-rich foods/supplements that will prevent malnutrition, promote muscle strength, decrease the effects of sarcopenia, and maintain maximal independence and quality of life as a result.
• Group session – OT can lead group OT session in a kitchen in which older adult clients in an assisted living facility have the opportunity to prepare and taste different protein-rich foods (such as pan-fried salmon or scrambled eggs) that they can then incorporate into their diet to increase muscle mass/strength and functional performance in ADLs.
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