Nutrition and Aging - Essay Example

This paper approves that eating habits are formed long before we reach our senior years. Children and adolescents need to be taught about foods and nutrition, and that how we eat when we are young affects how we live when we are older. Good examples need to be set, which is difficult in this nation of fast food and obesity. Nonetheless, attempts must be made to inform the younger population about the perils that can be avoided later if only they would pay a little more attention to what they eat.

Research has begun to focus on the social and psychological changes faced by the elderly and now these changes affect eating habits. Seniors may lose interest in eating due to not wanting, or not knowing how, to cook. They may not have as much social interaction as they did before. Decreasing sense of smell as we age affects the ability to taste food, which also decreased interest in food. Incentives suggested for increasing the desire to eat include community meal programs, potlucks with friends and clever use of herbs to intensify flavor.

This essay makes a conclusin that we need to start focusing on the “baby boomers” that will constitute our elderly population in the future. This population is still young enough to make eating changes that will positively impact their future health. Food should be thought of as a life-extending medication. If we were presented with a drink from the Fountain of Youth, nobody would hesitate to take a drink. We need to learn that what and how we eat can be the equivalent of a drink from this fountain and let us all enjoy our older years, rather than be confined to a hospital bed in misery.