How to Help Your Aging Parent Make Wise Food Choices
Homecare Media PA
You’ve tried cajoling by spouting the virtues of a healthy diet. You’ve asked your parent’s homecare provider to stress the need to eat fruits and vegetables and lean proteins. You’re persuading all family members to avoid the chip and ice cream aisle at the grocery store when shopping for mom or dad. And yet, processed food still seems more of a staple than an occasional treat.
Why do People Reach for Junk Food
In modern day society, food serves many other needs than just nutrition. It can become someone’s solace during stressful times; replace love when they feel lonely; become a conditioned response to certain emotional and mental triggers, some of which have dogged them since childhood.
According to obesity statistics, over 20% of Americans could be defined as obese as of September 2016. Glandular issues account for a very small portion of the 1/5th of Americans who are overweight. Predominantly, overeating and eating the wrong foods is the number one culprit.
How to Help Your Loved One Make Good Choices
Most diseases gain some foothold because of poor diet and lack of exercise. You know the importance of eating the right foods in the right quantity, but how do you convince your parent? One of the most vital lessons to heed is probably what not to do: don’t lecture. Think back to your youth. The automatic lecture reflex is to dig your heals in. “You want me to eat how many servings of vegetables every day? I don’t think so.” Ease them in to dietary changes. After all, who won the race—the tortoise or the hare?
Easy additions that will hardly go noticed include a chicken vegetable soup or a salad with the fixings. Think garbanzo or kidney beans, sunflower seeds and raisins, greens and apples—the list is endless. Add a slice of garlic bread, with lots of garlic and parmesan cheese, and this may end up being one of their favorite meals. Of course, make alterations based on any health concerns such as diabetes.
Addressing your parent’s emotional issues as they relate to wrong food choices can be ill-fated. Some parents do not want to discuss their emotional food triggers with their children. There are a number of books on the subject, counselors who will help uncover the cause, and taped seminars on topics such as food as love.
If your parent becomes sullen at these suggestions, it may be best to lead by example and turn over any such discussions to a third party. Obtaining the services of a homecare provider will not only offer you respite from helping with the daily activities of living, they also offer your parent a sounding board—someone to discuss concerns with that isn’t so tightly woven into the family matrix. They may well end up becoming one of your parent’s closest allies.
Resources: www.stateobesity.org
If you or an aging loved one are considering Homecare Services in Media PA, please contact the caring staff at True Direct Home Health Care today.
Doc, as he is called by everyone - staff, patients and clients - first experienced home health care and hospice care while as a colleg student at King's College as he cared for his mother every day while she first battled COPD and then lung cancer. It was during this time that he came to understand that caring for a patient was more than just clinical expertise.
"Admittedly, my strongest attribute is my communication skills and the simple fact that I love to help people. Even the smallest thing you can do for someone really can mean so much to them long term. In fact, it could change them forever. That's what providing quality personal home health care should be all about."
In his spare time, he cooks for homeless shelters and children's music and arts events. He also is highly involved in his local youth sports soccer academy as a coach and Board member.
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