Digging Into Issue Of Weight Loss In Seniors
Seniors Enjoy Growing, Eating Their Own Food
UPDATED: 1:15 p.m. EDT July 2, 2004
MADISON, Wis. -- For some elderly people, it's not weight gain, but weight loss that causes concern.
Depression, reaction to medications -- even not liking what's for dinner -- all can lead to an elderly person not eating properly. The result can be unintentional weight loss, which can increase an older person's risk of death.
St. Mary's Care Center, a licensed skilled nursing residential home for seniors in Madison, has dug its hands into the issue. The center has residents talking about more than just the weather and new grandchildren; they're talking about their garden.
Residents help with watering and harvesting, and they are learning the importance of herbs and vegetables.
They are changing what they eat -- and how much they eat -- as a result.
"I feel real strongly about preserving and recognizing the importance of the tastes of real food, old traditional food, some of the old varieties," said master gardener Susan Boldt, a volunteer at St. Mary's.
Especially by growing the kinds of fruits and vegetables that the seniors remember from their youth, then preparing the food the way the seniors remember, Boldt has helped some of the residents regain their appetite and reverse weight loss.
"Cream of asparagus soup in a bread bowl, watermelon for dessert, huge Caesar salads -- can't complain about that, can you?" said resident Bob Stone.
Growing and eating their own food also helps the seniors remember that St. Mary's is their home. The program "brings that sense of cooking and smells," said dietary director Erika Selmer. "The appetite increases along with it as well, and that's our goal here."
Source:www.nbc11.com
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