Topic: E-Petition for Pensioners to eat a more healthy diet

[debster]

and very good luck to her but what would help in addition to the lovely fresh meals some company to eat with would i feel would probably do them as much good too

[frank farmer]

i link al pencioners hould get a alowanse for ectra flood,pencioners do so muckh for these cuntry, ther war yeers and the sakrifice thay mayd, shurly we kan geve themm sum xtra flood, i four on wil bee sining the epetcsion.

frank farmer (oxford university)

[OllieC]

Melbourne - I can hear Gordon Brown's advisers saying to him, "there's this petition that a lot of people have signed. We'd really like their votes, but there's a couple of commas in the wrong place so sadly we have to wave their votes goodbye and continue to allow old people to be malnourished".

Sorry, but the English isn't all that bad. I've seen plenty worse.

I've signed it because I think basic nourishment should be a right, not a privilege.

[PaulaH]

Thank you Frank & Ollie for your support - we are now up to 208 signatures.

Paula xx

[SueSteve]

I do apreciate what you are doing, but extra money would not encourage my parents to eat better.

The typical shopping trolley of my parents includes biscuits, cakes, those desert pots that try to pass themselves off as yoghurts, sweets (mum alone eats 56 twix bars a week  :o). Most meals are fried and they always add tonnes of salt and sugar to everything.

I can't help them, they heard on TV that yoghurts are good for them, so now they have 2 a day of the ones that contain around 7tsps sugar per pot! Chocolate bars are good for energy, thats why Mum eats all those twix! They need to eat something wth their tablets, so mum has a couple of biscuits as they are handy first thing in the morning or before she goes to bed. Cereals are good for you, Special K helps you loose weight, so Mum eats 2 massive bowls of them coated in sugar for breakfast! Apparently if they cut down their salt and sugar they get stomach aches, so it must be bad for you to cut it out! Also nuts, yes, nuts are good for you in moderation, but they eat loads of the salted roasted ones - it's their protein!!

They did try meals on wheels and anotehr home delivery company, but didn't like the food!! Apparently they were trying to poison them!

Okay, I know that a lot of elderley people would appreciate the money, but they do need to be educated in eating healthily, how can you go about that!

[manicscousers]

ray's mum's the same, they have plenty of money and still make stew with corned beef, eat cream cakes for tea and have dried milk..white bread, doesn't matter what we say, they've got to 89 years of age and feel they should be able to eat what they want, anyone want to argue with that logic ?  ;D

[scotch-mist]

My grandmother spent years living on tea and toast because she didn't have enough money to eat properly.
   By the time she did have enough money her stomach had shrunk so much she wasn't able to eat properly. (the doctors words, not mine)
 When she died the doctor put Heart attack as the cause of death, but told my mother that it was caused by years of malnutrition.
   Incidentally she worked all her days

[PaulaH]

My Mum is the opposite, she does like the odd cream cake but she does like her fruit and vegetables - she won't have sugar in her tea (I can't manage without!) although she does like white bread.  At 86 I don't want to restrict what she eats, it's up to her.

Scotch-Mist, that is so sad about your grandmother, Mum's aunt was the same, she lived on biscuits - we're hoping this petition will help people in the same situation as your grandmother if we can drum up enough support to make the Government listen.

Paula xx

[scotch-mist]

I wish you all the best with your petition,
your heart is in the right place.
But..........dont be surprised if the government don't listen.
They rarely do ! >:(

[PaulaH]

I know Scotch Mist but we can but try ;)

Paula xx

[Melbourne12]

Melbourne - I can hear Gordon Brown's advisers saying to him, "there's this petition that a lot of people have signed. We'd really like their votes, but there's a couple of commas in the wrong place so sadly we have to wave their votes goodbye and continue to allow old people to be malnourished".

Sorry, but the English isn't all that bad. I've seen plenty worse.

I've signed it because I think basic nourishment should be a right, not a privilege.

Eh?  It was Sprinkle, not I, who objected to the poor literary style.  Indeed, I explicitly excluded such a trivial reason for not signing.

I assume that Frank Farmer's post was also a commentary on the grammar.

But not mine.

[OllieC]

Hehehe - sorry Mel, I wrote things a bit wrongly! I shall go'n prescribe a brief yet heartfelt beating to myself. And I'm sorry for the mistaken identity.

[SueSteve]

My uncle had Downs Syndrome, he died of Malnutrition, he lived in a home for disabled people. I couldn't believe that in this day and age, in a care home, that someone could die of malnutrition!

[Emagggie]

Ho yes. My friend of 86 has been in a local 'nursing' home for 2 months now. She isn't easy to feed but rice krispies for her evening meal? She is not encouraged to eat in the dining area and so stays in her room and eats next to nothing.
What with that and other atrocities her son-in-law and I are looking for somewhere more suitable.

[Carol]

My Mum was a poor eater as well.  I think when they get 'up in years' a bit, they dont really care what they eat as long as its something.  Muller Rice and fruit salad every day was one of her favourites.  She did enjoy me making her Tripe and also Kedgeree once a week.  She ate loads of Murray Mints and had to have a chocolate eclair each tea time.  Now, my late Mother in law just lived off Cup a Soups.  When she died I took about 20 boxes of them from her cupboard, also coffee and whisky.  I removed about 10 bottles of whisky - plus the rest.   :) :) :)

[PaulaH]

Just a quick update - we're up to 217 signatures (despite the odd misplaced comma :o ;)) - we even have a Council member of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health.

Paula xx

[valmarg]

I should be grateful for a bit of clarification about what this petition is all about.

Oh and I are pensioners, and we eat very healthily.  We grow most of our own fruit and veg, and only buy locally produced meat.

Would my understanding be correct insofar as you are asking for government subsidy for the indolent pensioners who have not saved to fund their old age.

If I am correct in my assumption, you can stick your petition where the sun doesn't shine.  Why should the hard working, saving pensioners subsidise the profligate?

valmarg

[PaulaH]

I should be grateful for a bit of clarification about what this petition is all about.

Oh and I are pensioners, and we eat very healthily.  We grow most of our own fruit and veg, and only buy locally produced meat.

Would my understanding be correct insofar as you are asking for government subsidy for the indolent pensioners who have not saved to fund their old age.

If I am correct in my assumption, you can stick your petition where the sun doesn't shine.  Why should the hard working, saving pensioners subsidise the profligate?

valmarg

I am pleased to see that you and your OH are in a position to be able to grow your own vegetables, obviously you do have a healthy diet.

Unfortunately some pensioners do not, not because they haven't been bothered to save for their own age - sadly not every pensioner has been able to make adequate provision to cope with today's high cost of living - many either didn't work in order to raise a family or in some cases lost out on their occupational pensions through no fault of their own and are now struggling to make ends meet.

I appreciate you don't approve of the concept of this petition but I thank you for your comments.

Paula

[lorna]

Paulah, regardless if we agree or disagree with the petition I for one would like to applaud the polite way in which you have answered posts on this subject.
Lorna

[PaulaH]

Thank you so much Lorna

My rule of thumb for posting on forums is never to say anything I wouldn't be comfortable saying to that person face to face.

Paula xx