You know we love talking about food! Brighton & Hove Food Partnership has recently published an updated report on Healthy Ageing & Food. The aim is to identify what an ‘Age Friendly City’ might look like through the lens of food. We thought you might be interested in some of the findings: Malnutrition, or more likely under-nutrition in later life is common, affecting over a million older people and 40% of people admitted to hospital or care homes are malnourished; many people said they won’t go to the effort of making as many food options if just cooking for themselves & instead often eat a sandwich. This anecdotal evidence supports nutritional research that eating with others increases food intake – indeed energy intake increases 18% when eating with friends; getting to the shops can be a barrier to accessing good food, as can living alone as food is often sold in quantities which are unsuitable for single people; cooking for oneself can also be a barrier, both from a physical point of view but also due to lack of motivation; eating out at restaurants or cafes is often a preferred option and the cost can be comparable with home delivery meals but some people reported not being allowed to order a children’s portion!; people often said they didn’t want “OAP” lunches but just to eat in ‘normal’ settings however some people are ‘serial’ lunch clubbers and find different lunch clubs to attend each day.
If you would like to know more about the report or the activities run by Brighton & Hove Food Partnership including the Casserole club and the dementia cookery project please contact them on 01273 431700. If you feel it would be useful to have help with shopping and cooking please do give us a call, we have some great cooks on the team!