Beneath the longevity statistics lies a quiet crisis: \u201chidden malnutrition\u201d among the elderly, who consume enough calories to survive, yet suffer from severe, unseen nutrient deficiencies that silently strip away their independence.<\/p>\n
Decreasing mobility, shrinking appetites and tiny flats<\/a> influence how the city\u2019s older adults eat. Calorie needs naturally drop with age, but the body\u2019s demand for vital nutrients actually surges \u2013 making targeted nutrition vital for \u201cageing in place<\/a>\u201d safely.Ageing ushers in changes to the body \u2013 metabolism slows<\/a>, energy needs decrease and the ability to chew, swallow and digest food may be compromised. For many, growing older comes with financial constraints and living with chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes.<\/p>\n These factors can affect nutritional intake, further affecting health.<\/p>\n \u201cPoor nutrition doesn\u2019t just affect body weight; it affects an older person\u2019s ability to stay active and independent and to recover from illness,\u201d says Hong Kong-based dietitian Kirti Tatiwala, from Central Health Medical Practice.<\/p>\n \u201cOver time, inadequate nutrient intake can lead to muscle loss<\/a>, vitamin deficiencies and reduced mobility, increasing the risk of falls<\/a> and fractures. It can also weaken the immune system<\/a>, delay wound healing, increase fatigue and slow recovery after illness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beneath the longevity statistics lies a quiet crisis: \u201chidden malnutrition\u201d among the elderly, who consume enough calories to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[78],"tags":[265088,2675,18,265094,135,265083,4202,265089,77725,8346,19,265085,17,265086,1698,265091,28161,156217,56187,265090,508,265084,265092,265093,158781,265087],"class_list":["post-627994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-central-health-medical-practice","tag-diabetes","tag-eire","tag-food-angel","tag-health","tag-hidden-malnutrition","tag-hong-kong","tag-hong-kong-society-for-the-aged","tag-how-to-age-well","tag-hypertension","tag-ie","tag-ill-fitting-dentures","tag-ireland","tag-karen-chong","tag-kidney-disease","tag-kirti-tatiwala","tag-life-expectancy","tag-matilda-international-hospital","tag-meal-preparation","tag-mini-nutritional-assessment","tag-nutrition","tag-one-pot-meals","tag-po-leung-kuk","tag-st-james-settlement","tag-tofu","tag-tung-wah-group-of-hospitals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}