Editor—Nijs et al show the beneficial effects of family style mealtimes on the health of nursing home residents.1 Many elderly people in nursing homes, despite excellent clinical care, experience poor nutritional status associated with poor dentition, depression, and disease related malnutrition. Family members become distressed watching their elderly relatives decline in such a way.
Figure 1.
Credit: SIPA PRESS/REX
The solution has always been to provide high protein and energy dietary supplements from pharmaceutical companies which, although carefully formulated, are of debatable palatability and uptake. Importantly, they are prescribed by doctors at enormous cost to the health service, and evidence of their effectiveness is limited.2 Food based interventions are not ineffective: appropriate studies simply have not been done. This research is a step in the right direction. Jamie Oliver, could you make nursing homes your next project?
Competing interests: None declared.
References
- 1.Nijs KAND, de Graaf C, Kok FJ, van Staveren WA. Effect of family style mealtimes on quality of life, physical performance, and body weight of nursing home residents: cluster randomised controlled trial. BMJ 6;332: 1180-4. (20 May.) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Milne AC, Avenell A, Potter J. Meta-analysis: protein and energy supplementation in older people. Ann Intern Med 2006;144: 37-48. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]