{"id":145449,"date":"2026-02-24T23:19:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=145449"},"modified":"2026-02-24T23:19:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:19:55","slug":"family-living-focus-diet-and-nutrition-tips-for-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/family-living-focus-diet-and-nutrition-tips-for-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Living Focus: Diet and Nutrition Tips for Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor<\/em>
\nEmeritus, University of Minnesota<\/em><\/p>\n

Diet and nutrition can pose problems for older adults for a variety of
\nreasons.\u00a0 Following are tips for caregivers to help alleviate any concerns.<\/p>\n

Make dining social.\u00a0 Elderly people often fail to eat well because they do
\nnot like to eat alone.<\/p>\n

Take notice of food content in their loved-one’s home.\u00a0 Keep their
\nrefrigerator well stocked and watch for and remove old or spoiled food in
\nthe fridge.<\/p>\n

Serve finger foods or food that is already cut up.\u00a0 It is easier for less
\ndexterous hands.<\/p>\n

Food portions should be small, so they do not look overwhelming.\u00a0 Large
\nvolumes of food may spoil an elderly person’s limited appetite.<\/p>\n

Monitor your loved-one’s fluid intake. You should make sure they have
\nadequate fluids by keeping a pitcher of a favorite drink in the refrigerator
\nand serving from that source.<\/p>\n

If your loved one has a decreased appetite, you can:<\/p>\n

Offer high caloric drink foods such as ice cream, milk shakes, or eggnog.<\/p>\n

Offer familiar foods.\u00a0 Favorite foods can stimulate the appetite.<\/p>\n

Try making the main meal of the day at lunch when the appetite is often
\nlarger.<\/p>\n

Sit directly in front of the person and show each spoonful to help them
\norient.<\/p>\n

Offer 4 to 6 small meals a day instead of 3 larger ones.<\/p>\n

If your loved one is having problems swallowing:<\/p>\n

Allow time between bites and check mouth periodically for food in the cheek.<\/p>\n

You may need to remind the person to swallow.<\/p>\n

Gently stroking the throat will help to stimulate swallowing.<\/p>\n

Observe and alter food textures that cause the most difficulty.\u00a0 Liquids can
\nbe thickened with gelatin or applesauce. Solids can be moistened or pureed
\nfor easier swallowing.<\/p>\n

If your loved one is having motivational problems<\/p>\n

Make the meal look appetizing on their plate.\u00a0 You can accent their plate
\nwith a fruit or vegetable garnish, coconut flakes, or melon.<\/p>\n

Make the dining experience pleasant for the person you are caring for.
\nPlaying soft music, lighting candles, or talking to them about the day’s
\nevents while they are eating will take their minds off not feeling well.<\/p>\n

Family Support Systems<\/p>\n

Communicate about the status of your loved one with your family and friends.
\nIf people close to you understand what is going on they can give you more
\nhelp and support.<\/p>\n

Bring the children to visit unless your loved one specifically asks you not
\nto.\u00a0 Visits help keep relationships whole and maintain a sense of attachment
\nand continuity for your loved one.<\/p>\n

Try to share the responsibility of care with other members of your family.
\nAsk if your relative can take your loved one to some of their regular
\nappointments.<\/p>\n

Plan family time together.\u00a0 You can have a potluck where each person brings
\nsomething and you can enjoy family time together.<\/p>\n

Watch for more Family Living Focus information from Gail Gilman, Family Life
\nConsultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus – University of Minnesota
\nin next week’s paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Diet and nutrition can pose problems for older adults for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 Following are tips for caregivers to help alleviate any concerns. Make dining social.\u00a0 Elderly people often fail to eat well because they do not like to eat alone. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-09-26 23:18:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145450,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145449\/revisions\/145450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}