Prevention of Malnutrition

The majority of people in the community may be classified as 'nutritionally well' and their nutritional needs do not differ from that of the general adult population. Healthy eating advice inline with the Eatwell Plate (Figure 5) (www.eatwell.gov.uk

)¹⁶ should be encouraged with these adults.

Figure 5 : The Eatwell Plate

However, as malnutrition affects 5% of the population and 14% of those over 65 years it becomes a public health issue. Thus to prevent malnutrition it is important to raise awareness of this issue amongst the public, relatives, carers and health and social care professionals in all sectors/settings.

As adults get older it remains important to include a wide variety of foods in the diet. As people get older they have lower energy (calorie) requirements. However the same amount of vitamins and minerals are needed as younger adults.

It is important to recognise the social and psychological causes of malnutrition and any possible trigger events that may cause malnutrition.

Irrespective of setting the environment should support a positive dining experience to ensure that people achieve optimum nutritional intake.