Hunger is Harder for Older Adults
Adults aged 60 and older, sometimes referred to as older adults or seniors, are particularly vulnerable to hunger.
Good health is closely linked to diet. When an older person reduces the food they eat because of health problems or financial restrictions, they risk their ability to maintain an independent, healthy lifestyle.
Hunger
- increases the risk for stroke,
- aggravates pre-existing conditions,
- limits the usefulness of many prescriptions medications,
- and may affect brain chemistry increasing the incidence of depression and isolation.
For seniors, trying to protect themselves from food insecurity and hunger is more difficult than for the general population. Food-insecure seniors may have enough money to purchase food but not the resources to access or prepare food due to lack of transportation, functional limitations, or health problems.
Staples for Seniors provides a grocery bag of shelf-stable food weighing approximately 10 pounds at the end of every month to seniors living in low-income subsidized housing (United Labor Towers in Brunswick; Northview Manor in Medina; Wadsworth Towers, White Oaks Village and MENWA in Wadsworth and Lodi Ambassador & Aristocrat Apartments in Lodi). The groceries help tide them over to their pension checks arrive.