Mother has her main meal at 6pm.

• This is “red flag” warning sign that the elderly person not eating much, and is malnourished.

• Many frail older people commonly exclaim with pride that their “main meal” is in the evening, and a small meal anyway.

• These elderly tend to have very little for breakfast, no snacks during the day, only 1 slice of bread for a sandwich for lunch or a small cup of soup.

• .Their dinner may be only a small serve of soup, a slice of bread and that’s it.

• Many frail older people tend to collect and hoard their delivered meals in the fridge, dividing the already very small meal anyway into halves!  They commonly divide a takeaway quarter BBQ chicken into 3 days of meals instead of eating the whole thing straight away.

• Or they just collect frozen meals in the freezer and never eat them! This can be the first sign of dementia.

• They should be having at least 3 hot meals a day and snacks in between to prevent weight loss, muscle breakdown and malnutrition.

• Hoarding uneaten meals in the fridge that go off may be the first sign of dementia.

For more information read Dr Peter Lipski’s book “Your Elderly Parents Failing Health. Is It Ageing Or A Treatable Condition”.