WHO recommendations on a healthy diet for those over 65

For adults, the WHO guidelines recommend the following.

A healthy diet contains:

§   Fruits, vegetables, legumes (e.g., lentils, beans), nuts and whole grains (e.g. unprocessed maize, millet, oats, wheat, brown rice).

§   At least 400 g (five portions) of fruits and vegetables a day. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and other starchy roots are not classified as fruits or vegetables.

§   Less than 10% of total energy intake from free sugars which is equivalent to 50 g (or around 12 level teaspoons) for a person of healthy body weight consuming approximately 2000 calories per day, but ideally less than 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits. Most free sugars are added to foods or drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and can also be found in sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.

§   Less than 30% of total energy intake from fats. Unsaturated fats (found in fish, avocado, nuts, sunflower, canola and olive oils) are preferable to saturated fats (found in fatty meat, butter, palm and coconut oil, cream, cheese, ghee and lard) and trans-fats of all kinds, including both industrially-produced trans-fats (found in processed food, fast food, snack food, fried food, frozen pizza, pies, cookies, biscuits, wafers, margarine and spreads) and ruminant trans-fats (found in meat and dairy foods from ruminant animals, such as cows, sheep, goats, camels and others). It is suggested to reduce the intake of saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake and trans fats to less than 1% of total energy intake. In particular, industrially produced trans-fats are not part of a healthy diet and should be avoided.

§   Less than 5 g of salt (equivalent to approximately 1 teaspoon) per day and use iodized salt.

WHO’s Global recommendations on physical activity for health

HO’s Global recommendations on physical activity for health (2010)

Below is an extract from these recommendations for adults 65 years and above:

For adults 65 years and above, physical activity includes recreational or leisure-time physical activity, transportation (e.g., walking or cycling), occupational (if the person is still engaged in work), household chores, play, games, sports or planned exercise, in the context of daily, family, and community activities. In order to improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone and functional health, and reduce the risk of  noncommunicable diseases, depression and cognitive decline, the following are recommended:

1.  Adults aged 65 years and above should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week, or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.

2.  Aerobic activity should be performed in bouts of at least 10 minutes’ duration.

3.  For additional health benefits, adults aged 65 years and above should increase their moderate- intensity aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes per week, or engage in 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.

4.  Adults of this age group with poor mobility should perform physical activity to enhance balance and prevent falls on 3 or more days per week.

5.  Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups, on 2 or more days per week.

6.  When adults of this age group cannot do the recommended amounts of physical activity due to health conditions, they should be as physically active as their abilities and conditions allow.

7.  Overall, across all the age groups, the benefits of implementing the above recommendations, and of being physically active, outweigh the harms. At the recommended level of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity, musculoskeletal injury rates appear to be uncommon. In a population- based approach, in order to decrease the risks of musculoskeletal injuries, it would be appropriate to encourage a moderate start with gradual progress to higher levels of physical activity.

Lookig for work remember age discrimination is illegal

Those of us who want to or need to work can experience ageism and stereotypes when we start looking for work. Despite evidence to the contrary, older people who want to work are often perceived as physically weak, slower, and more susceptible to absence from the job. However, older workers vary in these work performance characteristics just as workers of younger ages do.

I listened as the radio announcer talked to an employment advisor for seniors looking for work. It was an interesting conversation and one that I had when I placed young students into jobs in my other life. The counsellor talked about all of the positive attributes that seniors bring to the job and I thought these could be said of any age group. The reporter asked the councillor if what they were saying was based on science/fact or just his opinion. I was disappointed when the councillor said it was only their opinion. The reporter shut him down by saying “I am sure that 20-year old’s would say the same thing about their skills and attitudes, thanks for phoning.”

Ageism is subtle, check-out clerks may ask robust seniors whether they need help with their groceries. Store clerks repeat instructions and raise their voices on the implicit presumption that seniors are hard of hearing or senescent. These types of well-intended social interactions can be experienced as patronizing and can create doubts for retirees about our competence as well as lead to feelings of inferiority. “Forever Young” advertising (e.g., anti-aging cream) is another negative influence on the psyche of older citizens. It also plays into myths of age when employers go to hire. Ageism is against the law, but many seniors will be denied a job based on “suitability” which is, in my view, a code word for age discrimination.

There are not a lot of job agencies in Canada for those over 65 who have retired. Some of the big agencies allow you to post looking for jobs for senior citizens but the jobs that come up are not specifically designed for seniors. Jobs should be easy to find in our current market, but they are still hard for seniors as age discrimination is in full force in most Canadian business operations. I know that there are exceptions to this rule, and many seniors who want to work have found jobs, but I suspect these are not what they wanted when they started their search.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? I do.

Most of us have a fear of public speaking and will do whatever we can to get out of it.  In the past few days, I have had the horror of having to give a number of public speeches that were to audiences with which I was not used to speaking. I did a quick review of what I used to do to help settle my nerves. One trick that does not work for me is the trick of imagining your audience naked. But here are some of the tricks that I use that work for me. When public speaking, pause frequently. Pause before you say something in a new way, pause after you have said something you believe is important, and pause as a relief to let listeners absorb details.

When I was first trying my hand at public speaking, I was told a successful speech was in the presentation. “Tell the audience what you want to tell them. Tell the audience what you just told them and then wrap up by telling them again what you just said.” The point is that repetition is the key to a good speech. Repetition and one message at a time. People can get confused when or if you give them too much information at once.

It is important that if you are giving a thank you speech, for example, you just say thank you, acknowledge those who have helped you and stay on course. If you are welcoming a person to the group or to your community, focus on the welcome, what the community can do for the person and what, if anything the community can expect from the person being welcomed.

I write the speech out and practice before I give it. When it is time to speak, I have it mostly memorized, and I talk to the audience without referring to my notes often. I do refer to the notes to make sure I have not left anything out. If I am asked to speak and I have not prepared anything, which does happen from time to time, I make the speech short and to the point, and if possible I use humour to break the ice.