Topic > The Problem of Elderly Malnutrition in Singapore

IndexMunch & Move Campaign“Munch and Move: Songs to Sing and Rock” Music CDPacked Lunch IdeasResource for Learning Experiences on Healthy EatingManaging Malnutrition in SingaporeIsolationInadequate Knowledge about how to prepare healthy dishesInadequate knowledge about nutrition Value of foodOverview of strategiesThis report focuses on the growing prevalence of malnutrition in older adults in Singapore (Lim, 2018). Malnutrition among older adults in Singapore is caused by isolation, inadequate knowledge about preparing healthy dishes, and inadequate knowledge about the nutritional value of food. We decided to target seniors aged between 62 and 80 as the retirement age is 62 and life expectancy in Singapore is 82 (Ministry of Manpower, 2018) (Singapore Third in the World for life Expectancy, 2017 ). We approached the New South Wales (NSW) Government to study their successes in advertising and promoting healthy eating among children aged 0-5 in New South Wales, Australia. We then applied the lessons learned from the case study in Singapore to encourage healthier eating habits among older adults. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Munch & Move Campaign First, we analyzed the promotional techniques used in “Munch & Move” to promote healthy eating (Figure 1). “Munch & Move” is a campaign that has been running since 2008. It aims to promote healthy eating habits in children aged 0-5 (NSW Department of Education, Office of Sport and the Heart Foundation, 2018). Figure 1Munch and displacement campaign. Munch & Move promotes healthy eating in children by targeting nursery school teachers and childcare center operators. They offer courses for teachers and practitioners led by the Early Childhood Training and Resource Center (ECTARC). It consists of 4 modules, each lasting 2 hours (NSW Department of Education, Office of Sport and the Heart Foundation, 2018). Since the launch of the campaign, improvements in healthy eating have been recorded. Age-appropriate water or beverages provided daily to children increased from 50.5% in 2012 to 76.0% in 2015. Daily monitoring of the nutritional value of the food in these children's lunchboxes has grown since 88.9% in 2012 to 93.3% in 2015. Figure 2 Statistics showing that the campaign was successful. Music CD “Munch and Move: Songs to sing and groove to” One of the techniques used are songs that convey healthy eating messages, with a songbook as a reference. The songs were collected on the music compact disc (CD) "Munch and Move: Songs to sing and groove to" that the organizers of the Munch & Move campaign provided to the operators of childcare facilities. Munch and move songbook Figure 3. 2 One of the pages of the songbook These songs were used to encourage learning about healthy eating by facilitating activities such as group singing during children's lunchtime. Songs are more effective at conveying messages than words (Alexandria Miller, 2017). Stimulates memory, allowing for easier memorization of information. In this way, we have learned that music can be used to help us retain information better. Lunch Ideas Another technique used by Munch & Move is to improve children's lunch boxes and make them suitable and healthy by instructing parents on how to prepare lunch boxes for their children. The Munch & Move campaign promotes this idea through a postermodular that provides step-by-step instructions for preparing healthy, child-friendly lunchboxes. A modular poster consists of a set of standardized parts or independent units that can be used to build a more complex structure. This can be seen from the poster promotion as foods are classified into their respective food groups forming different modules. Meal preparers can combine the different food options in each module according to their preferences (University of Redlands, 2018). Thanks to the flexibility and simplicity of the Thanks to the modular and "mix-and-match" concepts, cooking and preparing food becomes less complicated, encouraging parents to prepare healthy meals for their children. This is evident as, following the campaign, the number of children eating at least one portion of fruit per day increased from 92.5% in 2012 to 93.6% in 2015 (New South Wales Ministry of Health, 2015). In this way, we learned that including information formatted in modular and combinable concepts is effective as it is flexible and comprehensive for users to understand (University of Redlands, 2018). Healthy Eating Learning Experience Resource Another technique used by Munch & Move was to provide educators with resources such as the “Healthy Eating Learning Experience Resource” which includes hands-on activities such as games and healthy cooking to encourage healthy eating. healthy in children (NSW Department of Education, Office of Sport and Heart Foundation, 2018). Through these interesting activities, children were effectively engaged, as is evident from the case study of the Keiraview Children's Center (NSW Department of Education, Office of Sport and the Heart Foundation, 2018). Having been educated with these resources, the children at the center were able to tell the story, provide healthy eating tips and correctly identify pictures of fruit and vegetables (NSW Department of Education, Office of Sport and the Heart Foundation, 2018 ). . Since children are able to learn better when performing practical tasks, this improves their attention and enjoyment, motivating them to make healthier choices (Routen, Sherar, 2017). Through this, we have learned that we should have a wide range of practical activities to engage our target group, to ensure that our strategies are memorable and effective. Managing Malnutrition in Singapore In Singapore, research has found that half of seniors aged 55 and above are frail, the main cause being malnutrition. Malnourished older adults experience higher mortality rates and prolonged hospital stays (Lim, 2018). The most common effect of malnutrition, cachexia, causes severe weight loss, muscle wasting, and loss of appetite. Motor coordination is also impaired, making patients prone to falls and frailty (RichmondVale, 2016). Frail older adults are twice as likely to die earlier than others (Tan, 2017). This leads to increased healthcare costs and, therefore, there is a need to address malnutrition in the elderly (Yuen, 2018). To understand the reasons for malnutrition in older adults and their preferences, we interviewed 140 older adults living in Outram Park. We conducted our survey there because it has the highest density of elderly people in Singapore (Department of Statistics, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Republic of Singapore, 2017). We interviewed seniors between the ages of 62 and 80 as they are our target group. Isolation The main causes are isolation, inadequate knowledge of how to prepare healthy dishes and inadequate knowledge of the nutritional value of food. Isolation is one reason..