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"Arthritis can make it difficult to prepare food and some people may lose interest in food if they live alone, have difficulty shopping or have financial problems.
"The physical effects of ageing alter the efficiency of many body processes. The ability to digest, absorb, metabolise and excrete nutrients decreases with age, though it varies between individuals. For this reason it is difficult to make specific dietary recommendations for this group."
This natural loss of appetite, and the effects of illness, complicate the problem, and make it harder for professionals to sort those with true eating disorders from those with other problems.

Ian Rommory, head of care at the Kensington nursing home in west London, says: "I have seen patients give up eating. Either they can't be bothered, or those with dementia can't remember to.
"I blame depression in the elderly for eating disorders, and would not say that they have the same reasons as teenagers, who have anorexia, because it has very little to do with distorted body image. It is a way of ending their life in old age.
"There was a recent case here with an 85-year-old lady who was slim anyway, but refused to eat after a while. She was unwell for other reasons, but I believe that she died because she stopped eating, and was malnourished as a result of her refusal to eat."

Jane Wood, head nurse in a nursing home in Willesden, London, says: "Some patients do stop eating. A glass of milk is often the only thing they will take down. Some patients go through phases, it depends on how they feel that day depending on whether they wish to eat or not."


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