Question

Frances is an 82-year-old woman who suffers from macular degeneration, osteoporosis, and arthritis. Since her husband died a year ago, she has moved from their family home to a small one-bedroom apartment. Her eyesight is progressively getting worse, making it diffucult to go to the grocery store or even to cook (for fear of burning herself). She is often lonely; her only son lives an hour away and works two jobs, but he visits her as often as he can. Frances has lost her appetite and, as a result, often skips meals during the week. She has resorted to eating mostly cold foods. These are simple to prepare but seriously limit the variety and palatability of her diet. Also, she wears dentures and has trouble chewing tough meats and foods with crisp textures. She is slowly losing weight as a result of her eating patterns and loss of appetite. Her typical diet usually consists of a breakfast that may include 1 slice of wheat toast with margarine, honey, and cinnamon, and 1 cup of hot tea. If she has lunch, she normally has a can of peaches, half of a turkey and cheese sandwich, and a glass of water. For dinner, she might have half of a tuna fish sandwich made with mayonnaise and 1 cup of iced tea. She usually includes one or two soft cookies at bedtime. Answer the following questions about dietary assistance for Frances.

What other questions would you ask Frances to get a better sense of her nutrition status?

Answer 1

Nutritional requirement for human beings change with stages of life like childhood, adolescence, adult and old age. Nutritional requirements also vary with sex and underline medical conditions etc.

The lean body mass and metabolic rate go down as age increases. Amount of some nutritional factors should be maintained, some should be increased or decreased. For example, the amount of protein should be maintained but quality should bee changed, the amount of fibre should be increased whereas carbohydrate should be reduced. Amount of vitamins should be increased in folds. Improper nutrition results in lowered immunity

Daily nutritional requirement for an aged person is as follows.

Total calory requirement 1600-2000 for females

Protein requirement is 0.8gm/kg body weight.

Carbohydrate requirement is 45-65% of total calory

Fat requirements 25-35% of total calory.

Dietary fibres should be in an amount of 21-30 grams

Micronutrients -Calcium 1200 mg per day,Vitamin D20 microgram ,Vitamin C60-12 mg,vVtamin B12 2-4 microgram,Potassium 4700 mg ,Sodium1500mg , Iron 8mg, Magnesium350mg.

Frances is suffering from osteoporosis and she needs more calcium Her diet contains a low calcium which results in irregular heartbeat muscle cramps spasms etc.