3 Ways To Encourage Someone To Get Adequate Nutrition
While many people know what foods are good for them and what foods aren’t, actually eating in a way that’s going to be ultimately healthy can be a challenge for many people.
When someone isn’t in a position to really make the best food choices for themselves, be it because they’re a young child or an older adult needing assisted living guidance, finding a way to ensure that they are getting adequate nutrition is important but not always easy to achieve. Luckily, there are some things that you can try to help them see what changes might need to be made and persuade them to make these changes.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three ways to encourage someone to get adequate nutrition.
Educate Them On What Their Body Needs
In some instances, your loved one might not know what their dietary needs are and how those needs can best be met. If this is the case, you may want to start with some education regarding what their body needs.
With young children, explaining how food is used for energy for their body can be helpful. You can share that certain foods, like protein, gives their bodies lots of good energy and helps them become strong. For older adults, informing them on how they need to eat more or less of certain foods to keep themselves healthy and regular might be more beneficial.
Uncover Any Issues They Might Be Having
It’s not always a lack of knowledge that has someone eating in a way that doesn’t give their body the nutrition they require. Sometimes, they might have some other issues going on that make it hard to make healthy choices and actions.
To uncover if this is the case, try asking questions about foods they like or dislike. You can also ask questions about textures or if they have a hard time eating certain types of foods. Medications and access to healthy foods could also cause them to eat a smaller amount of foods, but these issues can usually be fixed once they are known.
Avoid Isolation
Especially for older adults, eating adequate meals and healthy food might not be happening due to a lack of someone else to eat with. Meals are often very social events, and if the social aspect is missing, a lot of the nutrition can be missed as well.
If you think that this might be the case, encourage your older loved one to make mealtimes a more social event. Try going shopping with them and cooking some meals together. Encourage them to invite people over to eat with them or go to restaurants with friends. These things can all help to avoid isolation if that’s the cause for a lack of nutrition.
If you’re worried about your loved one getting enough to eat or eating nutritious foods, consider using the tips mentioned above to help encourage positive dietary changes.
