It sounds like your father will benefit from a nutritional screening. Nutritional screening tools such as the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) will help identify problems your father may have that are negatively impacting his nutritional status. 

There are many factors which may contribute to poor nutritional status. These include difficulties eating due to badly fitting dentures or conditions such as arthritis. Other factors include poor appetite, loneliness, social isolation, difficulties accessing and preparing food and ill health.

Your father should also be assessed for dehydration, as this can aggravate dizziness and increase risk of falls and injury. A minimum of 8 glasses of fluid daily will improve these symptoms.

Men who have poor nutrition, including a low calcium diet are also more at risk of developing osteoporosis. It is important that your diet. Dairy foods generally contain the most concentrated amounts of calcium. There are also non-dairy sources of calcium such as beans, salmon and broccoli.

I recommend that you download a free copy of our booklet, 'Beat the Break: A Guide to Osteoporosis and Bone Health', it provides detailed information about the importance of diet and bone health. I would suggest you and your father have a read.

If you have any questions you would like answered please e-mail Noeleen Cronin on info@homeinstead.ie. Noleen is trained as a nurse and specialised in elder care before joining Home Instead Senior Care.

For further information on elder care issues and to keep up to date with Home Instead Senior Care news please click on the following link: http://www.homeinstead.ie/keep_in_touch.aspx.