Long Term and Obesity Management

More than one-third of adults in the United States are considered obese. As the obese population ages, one can assume the number of obese elderly persons requiring long-term care services will also increase. The effects of obesity on older adults can be significant and potentially fatal from heart disease to kidney failure, thus this epidemic has broad ramifications for healthcare practice and the costs associated with medical care for this subset of the population.

Some elderly home residents who are obese have comorbidities that make them poor candidates for planned weight loss. According to professionals like those at carltonseniorliving.com/community/sacramento/, each resident who is obese should be evaluated individually for the safety and efficacy of weight loss before a weight loss plan is implemented as they may have preexisting diseases that interfere with normal body functioning in a negative way or may affect the safety of any weight loss programs.

Because most elderly people consume far less than the recommended dietary allowance of most nutrients the calorie needs for weight maintenance are not met naturally when only eating an adequate amount of food however caloric intake is limited by physiological factors as well as the lack of appetitive drive making malnutrition a common problem in nursing home populations resulting in loss of muscle mass and functional impairments therefore it is necessary to provide a balanced diet according to the recommendations based on current scientific knowledge.

The obesity of the elderly results not only in health deterioration but also impacts their quality of life so addressing its causes through health education is the most effective means of prevention and solution of the problem of the morbidly overweight seniors even in the presence of multiple chronic medical illnesses and providing nutritional support while emphasizing palatable balanced meals with different types of foods.

If a senior living resident is overweight or obese, he or she along with the interdisciplinary team should consider whether weight loss is an appropriate goal. To determine this, numerous questions need to be addressed.

Is there a specific reversible condition that is contributing to weight gain? Examples would be an endocrine disorder or a medication that affects appetite or cause metabolic complications such as renal failure due to diabetes where weight reduction decreases insulin resistance and can lower blood glucose sufficiently to improve control and reduce the medications required to control glucose and subsequent blood pressure and prevent retinopathy.

In these instances surgery may be an option but should not be pursued without specialist input depending on the individual circumstances of the patient for example gastric bypass may offer some relief but only up to a point only for a shorter period of time.

The goal of a medically supervised diet plan should never be “weight loss” but rather to maintain proper nutrition to enhance physical and mental well-being and increase energy activity and improve mobility and quality of life.

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