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Why Do Seniors Lose Their Appetites?

Is your senior seemingly never hungry anymore? Part of the issue could involve decreases in her activity levels, but it’s equally likely that there are other factors at work, too. Here are just some of the various reasons your elderly family member might not be so interested in eating much, and how in-home care can help her overcome them.

Physical Issues Around Preparing Meals

When it’s tough for your senior to shop for food or to have the energy to cook her meals, she may experience more difficulty getting excited about meals or food in general. She may find that she skips meals so often, she doesn’t really notice when she’s hungry. Likewise, physical challenges with actually eating, like trouble swallowing or chewing, can make eating so uncomfortable that your senior avoids it. Having help from in-home care providers with the challenging parts of food preparation can turn this around for your senior.

Having to Stick to a Specific Diet

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Your senior’s doctor may have recommended that she switch to a specialized diet in order to manage her health issues. If that’s the case, she might not be able to eat the foods that she’s familiar with and that she enjoys. So often seniors find that it’s difficult to even think about food at that point. And if the new diet feels difficult for her to manage, in terms of cooking foods that she’s not familiar with, she may lose even more interest.

Lack of Hydration

Dehydration is easy to miss in seniors, and it can go hand in hand with difficulty eating. Your elderly family member also might not experience hunger the same way if she’s chronically dehydrated. Finding ways for your senior to get the water that she needs every day is so important. In-home care providers can help your elderly family member to stay on target with her hydration goals.

Changes in Their Senses

Over time, your senior may find that her senses are changing as well. When her senses of smell and taste are impacted, your elderly family member may not enjoy eating much at all. That can be frustrating and it greatly reduces the likelihood that she’s going to actively seek out food as often. Having home care providers reminding her to eat may help a lot.

Mental Health and Cognitive Issues

There are also a great many mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression, that can cause your senior to have more trouble with food and eating. And if she’s experiencing cognitive changes, specifically ones that affect her memory, your elderly family member may not remember whether she ate or not. Each of these concerns are ones that you should bring up with your senior’s doctor to determine if there’s a solution that will work for her.

Food and eating can be really complicated for aging adults. There are a range of reasons your aging family member might no longer be interested in food, so it’s important to try to understand what she’s experiencing. Then you can work to solve those concerns for her.