Malnutrition a Problem in Older People's Care Homes warns Burstow

4.59.39pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 20th Oct 2006

Paul Burstow MP has spoken out about the problem of older people in care homes becoming malnourished through underfeeding and the lack of nutritious meals.

In a recent speech to the conference of National Association of Care Catering (NACC), Paul Burstow highlighted the danger of malnutrition amongst older people. Mr Burstow was reacting to recent studies that found 50% of care home residents were at medium to high risk of developing malnutrition. One in ten of these older residents are expected to lose 10% of their body weight six months after being admitted to their care home(1).

Mr Burstow criticised the low clinical priority of malnutrition and the lack of government progress on the issue. In contrast to obesity, malnutrition has much less prominence in government policy despite the fact that cases of malnutrition cost the taxpayer around £7.3 billion a year compared to the £3.5 billion that obesity is estimated to cost(2).

Mr Burstow called on the government to appoint a minister to address the problem of malnutrition and adopt a universally recognised screening tool that would identify those most at risk of becoming malnourished. Mr Burstow also suggested that care home workers should receive mandatory training in nutrition.

Commenting on the issue, Paul Burstow said:

"Malnutrition amongst older people is a hugely underestimated problem, it costs twice as much as obesity and gets less than half the attention."

"Malnutrition is both a cause and a consequence of disease. Poor nutrition can make older people more likely to become ill while also compromising their ability to get well."

" The government must take action to ensure that there is greater public awareness of this problem. We must also ensure that care home staff are properly trained, vigilant for signs of malnutrition and able to assist older people who often find eating a difficult task."