Study highlights malnutrition risk for elderly

File photo / Oamaru Mail

Many elderly people are risking malnutrition by not eating properly, a study says.

The study from the Hawke's Bay District Health Board showed 57 per cent of over-65s in the region were not eating properly which could lead to a loss of independence or a hospital stay, The Dominion Post reported.

Out of an estimated 7518 people, a third would be high-risk. Those at highest risk were those living alone or Maori elderly.

Some elderly did not believe they needed to eat as much as younger people, could not cook or thought it was normal to lose weight with age, the study found.

It said there were three steps to becoming obviously malnourished, starting with having risk factors such as being on a low income and living alone, to having a restricted diet, to "sub-clinical malnutrition", at which point the condition started affecting health.

- NZPA