Amy Urbanus was already an assistant professor in the dietetics and nutrition program at the University of Alaska Anchorage but missed working with patients.
So she started working with patients at the Anchorage Senior Activities Center, putting in about 20 hours a month to address seniors' nutrition needs.
That work, and a professional career as a diabetes educator drove Urbanus to seek a Ph.D., which she is completing at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She designed her own interdisciplinary doctorate, which combines psychosocial, biological and clinical aspects of treating Elders by addressing their nutrition habits.
So for the last several months, she has been collecting data. And to do so, she is doing a survey of Anchorage seniors and their nutrition habits who are "community dwelling." That means they don't live in assisted living or long-term care facilities. In other words, she wants to see how seniors do and what they understand about nutrition when they are largely living by themselves or with family members. Research shows that higher age is one risk factor for developing disease, and older adults have the highest risk of being at nutritional risk or becoming malnourished. However, the causes of malnutrition are complex.
Urbanus hopes to conclude her survey gathering by Oct. 1 and then set about to analyze the results and write her dissertation.
"There is no malnutrition data for the State of Alaska for any age," Urbanus said in an interview. By early August, she had collected 170 surveys, but wants to get closer to 300. Every survey respondent gets a $20 gift card to Fred Meyer's or Walmart.
Urbanus is looking at the many barriers seniors face in getting good nutrition, from lacking the transportation to get to the store regularly to feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of cooking for themselves or lacking the appetite to do so. Some seniors also are on a fixed income, and less nutritious foods often cost less while more nutritious foods are more costly.
As we age, our bodies need different nutrients. We might have been able to stay gassed up on carbohydrates in our youth and stay lean. As we age, things change. During our discussion, we both talked about loved ones who are active but are probably not fueling themselves adequately.
"Nutrition guidelines change," Urbanus said. "Our protein needs to go up. I'm sort of on a mission to get seniors to eat more protein."
The changes we experience as we age are multifaceted and can be hard to acknowledge. For example, some seniors have a hard time swallowing, and that can reduce food intake. Some of us have limited mobility, or, after a lifetime of cooking for others would rather avoid being in the kitchen.
There are a lot of misperceptions about nutrition among the general population, and those misperceptions persist among older people too, Urbanus said.
"People are always thinking that they need more fruits and vegetables," Urbanus said. "At 80 years old, you are not going to prevent cancer by eating more fruit."
Urbanus says she will share her research results once she has analyzed them.
For a protein-rich menu, check out the column by Elize Rumsley, page 7.
