5 Ways Retirement Residences Promote Healthy Eating Habits
As a person gets older, their life has a lot of changes, and they may not be able to maintain a particular lifestyle.
They may not be able to drive around well, prepare meals, run errands, and participate in the same activities. That's why they might need someone to help them out with certain things from time to time.
One of which is eating a well-balanced and healthy diet. Eating healthy is crucial in all stages of life, but it becomes necessary when a person is older. An excellent respite care facility understands the needs of the senior citizens that decide to live there, and that's why they properly care for them.
Here is how an excellent retirement care facility promotes healthy eating habits.
Cater To Special Dietary Needs
Many senior residents that decide to reside in these communities have a list of dietary needs that their doctors recommended them to stick to.
These assisted living centers offer their residents various dining options and meal plans that are coordinated explicitly with chefs and dieticians to make sure that the food meets their needs. That includes allergies, special diets, and much more.
Offer Healthy Fast Food Options
Living alone is not easy when it comes to shopping and preparing meals that meet your dietary requirements. For that purpose or another, anyone might take the easy way out every now and then and eat fast food.
While these foods may complete a person's daily calorie requirements, they come with a significant downside. These foods contain plenty of sodium, sugars, and saturated fats. Moreover, they usually don't have many vitamins and beneficial nutrients that keep a person healthy.
Senior living communities offer a variety of foods. If anyone of their residents would like to indulge in some fast food, then they can check out the facility's range of healthy fast food options.
Serve Recommended Sized Portions
It's not easy to stick to a specific portion size if the person making the meal is not an expert chef or a dietician. So can someone know what enough is, or should they just eat till they feel full?
Eating exactly the right size of portions allows a person to get a properly balanced nutritional meal and maintain a good standard of life. This is even more vital for seniors who are trying to live a healthy and active life, even in their old age.
Retirement homes can work with dieticians and wellness experts to plan the right size of meals for each of their residents. That makes sure everyone gets the essential nutrients they need.
Have All-Day Access to Meals
Other than providing a range of dining options for their residents, assisted living facilities also offer a variety of snacks and meals that can be accessed throughout the day without having to leave their living quarters.
Cooking and preparing meals is not something that senior residents staying at these facilities like to do. Still, a person can get hungry in between meals every now and then. Also, sometimes it's good to have some snacks while playing a board game with friends. Retirement care facilities try their best to meet all the needs.
Healthy Comfort Food
Everyone has comfort foods, even seniors. But unlike the younger generations, they might not have the luxury of indulging in unhealthy eating habits. Luckily, not all comfort food needs to be unhealthy to be delicious.
Retirement homes understand the need for comfort foods, and they provide a range of familiar favorites for their senior residents to enjoy. This can be anything from tasty pizzas to delicious steak dinners.
Aug 31, 2020 10:54 AM EDT