GP Dr Amir Khan on malnutrition and Covid

Experts issue warning during UK Malnutrition Awareness Week that confusion over the Government’s COVID-19 obesity messaging may be making already vulnerable older people less likely to spot the signs of malnutrition.

New research revealed today has shown that a quarter (25%) of people in Britain aged 65 and over, ate less than usual during lockdown.Of this group, over half (52%) stated their reason for doing so was to keep their weight down due to concerns about obesity as a risk factor for coronavirus (COVID-19).

These were the results from a large-scale YouGov survey of British adults for BAPEN and the Malnutrition Task Force which has been released as part of UK Malnutrition Awareness Week. For people aged 65 and over, who said they were eating less now in comparison to before lockdown, other reasons  included having difficulty shopping or having food delivered (17%), coping with the impact of eating alone and or without wider family and friends (11%), or mental health or wellbeing issues (11%).

Aston spoke to Dr Amir Khan from Channel 5’s ‘GPs Behind Closed Doors’ to discuss the issue and what we can do to support vulnerable neighbours, friends or family members at this time.

Photo by Matt Seymour on Unsplash