Through Stephane Fouilleul
Published on
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We regularly discuss the issue of overweight and obesity. But we often forget another pathology which nevertheless affects 2 million people in France: undernutrition. “It concerns 30% of hospitalized patients, 400,000 elderly people who live at home and 270,000 in accommodation facilities for dependent elderly people (Ehpad)”, details Sandrine Leroyer, dietician at Risle hospital center To Pont-Audemer (Eure). Alongside her dietician colleague Anne George and Aurélien Auger, a healthcare manager at the hospital, she is organizing a awareness day malnutrition scheduled for Monday, November 15, 2021, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Risle room.
On the program: exercises to calculate muscle mass and grip strength, quizzes and videos to raise awareness of undernutrition will be offered to visitors. “We will also deliver enriched cake recipes that we will taste,” says Sandrine Leroyer. Visitors will be able to interact with members of a meal-carrying association, an occupational therapist, as well as a social worker.
An adapted physical activity teacher will give advice on maintaining muscle mass. Finally, visitors will be able to test an aging simulator with several objects made available to them such as a weight vest to feel the loss of muscle strength, glasses that reduce vision, or elbow pads to simulate the feeling of stiffness …
The feeling of hunger decreases with age
Concretely, what is undernutrition?
“It results in an involuntary loss of muscle mass linked to a deficit in protein intake. Consequently, this lack creates an immune deficiency, can cause loss of balance and therefore a risk of falls, but also slow down the healing of an injury ”,
Undernutrition mainly concerns the elderly: “We see it regularly when we welcome them for a stay in hospital,” emphasizes Aurélien Auger. Because from an advanced age, in some elderly people, the feeling of hunger decreases. Undernutrition can be explained by a change in habits related to age. “Some people may have difficulty shopping and cooking. Others no longer have the pleasure of preparing the meal. In the evening, for example, elderly people will be content to eat soup and yogurt, ”Sandrine Leroyer analyzes. Isolation is one of the factors behind this undernutrition.
People with Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, or victims of emotional shock, or children, can also suffer from undernutrition.
Practical information: awareness day on undernutrition, Monday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Risle room, rue des Carmes in Pont-Audemer. Free admission. Health pass compulsory.
On Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 November, three awareness days will take place at Pont-Audemer hospital and at the Four Seasons EHPAD (quiz, videos, muscle mass calculation, etc.): Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at 4 p.m. at the nursing home and Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the hospital. Health pass compulsory.
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