"R"educed Social Contact: How it Impacts Nutrition

One third of all older people in the US live alone. Older people who find themselves single after many years of living with another person may find it difficult to be alone, especially at mealtimes. It is not uncommon among the single or widowed population to lose interest in preparing or eating regular meals, or eat only sparingly. In a study published in the Journal of Gerontology, researchers found that newly widowed people, most of whom were women, were less likely to enjoy mealtimes, less likely to say that they had a good appetite and less likely to report good eating behaviors. Nearly 85% of those widowed reported a weight change during the two years following a spouse’s death; the average weight loss was 7.6 pounds. Most of the women
enjoyed eating and cooking before they lost their spouse, but as widows, cooking was now a ‘chore”. For many widowed men who left cooking to their wives, the problem was often worse. They often did not know how to prepare meals and instead snacked too often or ate out a lot, both of which lead to eating too much fat, sodium and cholesterol and not enough food with the vitamins and minerals needed.

The importance of this research only reinforced the earlier findings that eating alone often can put your nutrition at risk. For those widowed or who are long term caregivers of a sick spouse who can no longer share meals as in the past, an important intervention is eating with friends or family or participating in group meals at a senior center or church at least every few weeks. Being with people daily has a positive effect on morale, well-being and eating!