Things You'll Need:
- Food guide chart
- Notebook
- Pen
- Desire to learn
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Step 1
Food Pyramid for the ElderlyCreating a healthy meal plan for the ELDERLY is not difficult. The first thing you need to do is study the food guide pyramid to gain an understanding of the basic food groups. You will notice that the base of the pyramid offers the most food choices. These foods are bread, cereal, rice, and pasta. You need 6-11 servings every day of these foods.
Moving up the Pyramid you will find the vegetable group and the fruit group. You need 3-5 servings of vegetables daily, and 2-4 servings of fruit every day.
Now, move up the pyramid again and you will find the Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese Group of equal importance to the meat, fish and poultry dry beans, eggs, and nuts group. You will need to include 2-3 servings from each group. Cheese is commonly considered a protein and is interchangeably with your meat, fish, poultry, dry beans and nut group.
At the top of the pyramid you will find fats, oils, and sweets. These are foods you will want to keep to a minimum in your meal plan.
Now you have a basic description of the necessary food groups to begin planning. -
Step 2
Portion Control PlateStep two is equally important. You must learn PORTION CONTROL. What is a portion? Using a portion control plate can be helpful in learning how to serve smaller portions but it is not necessary. Take your plate and draw an imaginary line down the center and across the middle dividing your plate into four sections. Your portion should be no larger than each portion and should include foods from each food group.
Here is a handy list of regular serving sizes for one serving:
Meat, fish, or poultry: 3 0z or the size of a deck of cards
Vegetables: 1/2 cup
Dry beans and peas: 1/2 cup
Fruit: Raw small apple, orange. If large eat half orange, apple, etc.
large piece of fruit equals 2 aervings
Fruit: Canned 1/2 cup
Bread, tortillas, dinner roll, etc.: slice bread/1 tortilla/small roll
Pasta: 1/2 cup can be counted like a slice of bread. Calories are similar -
Step 3
BoostDon't be discouraged when you find out about portion sizes. We are accustomed to seeing large servings that are much more than we need to eat. Muffins in the past were half the size that we purchase today. It can be quite a shock to discover how small portion sizes are supposed to be. As you can see from my pictures there are many food pyramids and some are a little bit different. I recommand the USDA FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID at My Pyramid.Gov.
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Step 4
EnsureMeal planning for the ELDERLY is no different than planning for other family members. The only difficulty you might find is that the elderly tend to lose their appetite and you have to tempt them to eat with something they really like. If you are not successful you may need to have them drink nutrition supplements such as Ensure® or Boost®
Comments
abtex said
on 11/18/2009 A good article on How to Create a Healthy Meal Plan for the Elderly. 5*
ttbirdie said
on 7/21/2009 Excellent article, 5*
gahazeleyes said
on 3/18/2009 Very good. I have taken care of a few elderly people before, and this is a good post.
LilacGirl said
on 3/16/2009 Thanks for all the great advice and suggestions for creating a healthy meal plan for the elderly.
vlhammett said
on 3/9/2009 You are so right about portion control. I try to each no more meat than the size of my palm, and no more than twice a week. I eat all the green food I want, especially if it's not overcooked and overprocessed. 5* and really great tips.