Experts advise on how to eat healthily for the elderly. Nearly half of the elderly in my country have poor nutritional status.
The health of the elderly in an aging society has attracted much attention. Data shows that there are nearly 300 million people aged 60 and above in my country, and the proportion continues to rise. It is estimated that by 2030, the proportion of the elderly population aged 60 and above in my country will reach about 25%. At the "Active Health, Nutrition for 100 Years" theme event recently hosted by Abbott, experts said that malnutrition is an important factor affecting the health of the elderly. Data shows that nearly half of the elderly in the country have poor nutritional status, and a balanced diet can help the elderly to be healthier.
Elderly people have a variety of chronic diseases that will affect their nutritional intake. In addition to the impact of diseases, physical degeneration and physiological disorders, the concepts of the elderly will also have a certain impact on nutritional intake. The "National Nutrition Plan 2017-2030" upgrades nutrition from "auxiliary treatment" to "nutritional treatment" in disease treatment. Professor Wei Junmin, chief physician of Beijing Hospital and geriatric medicine nutrition expert, emphasized the need to shift from passive treatment to active prevention and rehabilitation. He said, "Old people must eat enough, and they must eat reasonably and scientifically. Because protein loss is high and the utilization rate is low, the elderly should pay special attention to the intake of high-quality protein, which can effectively enhance resistance. Appropriate nutritional supplements are an important means to make up for the lack of nutrition in the natural diet of the elderly. It can effectively make up for the lack of nutrients in natural foods, or the low efficiency of digestion and absorption. This can not only effectively prevent diseases, but also help with recovery after illness and reduce the risk of complications."
How should the elderly eat to be healthy? Experts have made it clear that the elderly are particularly afraid of picky eating. The elderly should eat more and eat a variety of foods, including different vegetables and fruits, as well as animal protein, such as beef, mutton, and fish, which are all high-quality proteins. Nuts should also be eaten occasionally.
The understanding of nutrition in the eyes of doctors is also different from the nutritional balance in the eyes of the public. Experts say that as a doctor, they will pay special attention to the nutritional status of patients. This is more like a treatment measure and means, not just to eat enough. For example, some foods have enough calories and protein, but lack vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. For this reason, eating only big fish and meat is a good meal for the public, but in the eyes of doctors, the comprehensiveness of nutrition is not achieved. As for nutritional metabolism, generally speaking, the body's consumption and supplementation should be balanced, but the elderly often have much greater catabolism than anabolism, so the protein intake of the elderly is sometimes not enough by food supplements alone.
It is crucial to improve the health management awareness of the elderly. Professor Xu Jing from the School of Journalism and Communication and the Institute of Global Health Development of Peking University said: Compared with developed countries, the elderly in my country have low regular physical examination rates, insufficient awareness of chronic diseases, and excessive pursuit of light diets leading to nutritional imbalances. Ultimately, this is because most elderly people still lack health awareness. In this regard, it is necessary to encourage the elderly to take active prevention measures and improve health literacy through various means such as strengthening disease education and optimizing health science popularization content.
Recently, Abbott launched a nationwide campaign to care for centenarians, calling on the whole society to pay attention to the nutrition and health of the elderly and actively respond to the challenges in medical, economic and public services caused by China's aging society. The company has also developed a small program for self-testing nutrition, which, after being evaluated and certified by the Chinese Nutrition Society, helps consumers calculate the daily nutritional supplements they need more scientifically and solves the problems of "how much to eat" and "how to eat" for consumers.