{"id":145542,"date":"2026-03-04T20:58:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=145542"},"modified":"2026-03-04T20:58:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:58:42","slug":"family-living-focus-eating-difficulties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/family-living-focus-eating-difficulties\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Living Focus: Eating Difficulties"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Suppose the person you are caring for has not been eating well for some time
\nnow.\u00a0 This is a great concern as adequate nutrition is essential for
\nmaintaining optimal health and well-being.\u00a0 Eating problems are common and
\ncan be the result of many factors.<\/p>\n

First, consider your loved one’s medical conditions.\u00a0 Has there been a new
\ndiagnosis or a change with an existing one?\u00a0 Has there been a medication
\nchange?\u00a0 A side effect of some medications can be a change in appetite or
\ntaste sensations.\u00a0 Aging itself can result in decreased sensitivity to
\ntastes.\u00a0 Could there be an underlying problem with the mouth, tongue, teeth,
\nor dentures?\u00a0 Sometimes a loss of weight can result in dentures not fitting
\nproperly, causing pain with eating.\u00a0 Is there a problem with swallowing?
\nOften, an evaluation by a Speech Language Pathologist is needed to identify
\nthe problem and make appropriate recommendations.\u00a0 Any of the above problems
\nwill need to be discussed with a doctor.<\/p>\n

Next, consider the psychological implications of not eating.\u00a0 Poor eating
\ncan be the result of depression.\u00a0 A change in diet due to becoming a new
\ndiabetic or having to have food pureed due to a swallow problem can cause a
\nlack of enjoyment that was once associated with eating.\u00a0 Also, eating may be
\none of the few things that your loved one has control over.\u00a0 He may be
\nchoosing not to eat, simply because he can.\u00a0 Giving him more control and
\nchoices in other areas of his life may help to improve eating habits.\u00a0 If
\nyou suspect depression as a possible cause of eating difficulties, discuss
\nit with your doctor, as there are many effective treatments available.<\/p>\n

Finally, is your loved one having difficulty with the physical act of
\nfeeding himself?\u00a0 Weakness, decreased range of motion, impaired
\ncoordination, low vision, or tremors can impair their ability to feed
\nthemselves and result in frustration and embarrassment.\u00a0 There are many
\nsimple solutions for these issues.\u00a0 Someone having difficulty grasping a
\nutensil may benefit from built-up handles.<\/p>\n

Tremors can be lessened by adding weight to utensils or the person’s wrist,
\nresulting in fewer spills.\u00a0 Handled cups with lids and spouts are also
\neffective in lessening spills.\u00a0 For someone with worsening vision,
\nincreasing the contrast between the plate, food and table may allow them to
\nsee the contents of their meal a little easier.<\/p>\n

Providing finger foods may also help to increase independence for someone
\nwith visual or coordination impairments.\u00a0 A review and recommendations from
\nOccupational Therapy may be needed to improve arm and hand strength, range
\nof motion, and coordination if difficulties persist.<\/p>\n

Addressing eating difficulties as soon as they arise can prevent more
\nserious complications in the future.<\/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 Suppose the person you are caring for has not been eating well for some time now.\u00a0 This is a great concern as adequate nutrition is essential for maintaining optimal health and well-being.\u00a0 Eating problems are common and can be the result of …<\/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-145542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-08-29 20:57:02","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\/145542","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=145542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145543,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145542\/revisions\/145543"}],"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=145542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}