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| Nutrition and Health information specially formulated for seniors and elders |
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| Diabetes123 |
This site claims a lofty mission, “to be the world leader in online diabetes care.” Perhaps a better phrase would be “online diabetes information.” And there is a great deal of useful material here. Resources are available for consumers and health professionals interested in type1 and type 2 diabetes. Much of the nutrition information is presented in the “Ask the Diabetes Team” feature where readers can submit their own questions. There are many links to reputable sites. While the site is somewhat cumbersome to navigate, perseverance will be rewarded with helpful results, such as recipes, carbohydrate facts, and tips for holidays and special occasions.
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| SNAP Newsletters |
This site posts several years’ worth of quarterly newsletters written for senior consumers. They are available in PDF format, readable with Adobe Acrobat, so they print out nicely. Each includes a brief explanation of the topic–osteoporosis, food safety, or hypertension, for instance– followed by shopping and cooking tips, recipes, and resources that the reader can contact for more information. These newsletters would make great handouts for senior clients.
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| Texas Cooperative Extension–Food & Nutrition |
This site posts very useful consumer education materials produced by the nutrition professionals at Texas Cooperative Extension. The “Lifecycle” section includes handouts, fact sheets, resource lists, and lesson plans targeted to specific populations, with a particular emphasis on seniors-oriented materials. We particularly liked “What’s Missing in Your Pantry?”–a checklist that seniors can use to see if they are meeting their nutrient needs–and “Feeding Your Family Without Starving Your Wallet,” which offers practical shopping and meal planning advice to families.
Busy professionals will appreciate “Nutri-Facts,” ready-to-go lesson plans, complete with handouts, posted in “Resources.” These units cover common topics–such as how to choose a vitamin/mineral supplement and how to boost the fiber content of your diet–that are applicable to people of all ages and income levels.
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| University of Maine Cooperative Extension |
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension showcases most of its publications on this comprehensive and user-friendly site. Not only do the experts here tell you what to eat, but they tell you how to eat and even how to shop.
The topics covered span the generations, from homemade baby food to folic acid for seniors. There’s even information on how to get the most cooperation from your kids in the grocery store (“Winning Ways to Grocery Shop with Young Children”) and at the dinner table (“Making the Most of Family Mealtime”). There are fact sheets for teen vegetarians and helpful tips on stretching your food dollar. If you want to learn about canning, freezing, or donating your home-grown produce, you can find guidance here. Make herbal vinegar, “get on the grain train,” or calculate the sodium content of your lunch.
In many cases, readers can choose to view articles directly on the website (complete with colorful graphics) or to download printer-friendly PDF versions. A handful of publications cannot be accessed electronically and must be ordered, but the University of Maine demonstrates credible proficiency with everything they make available to visitors to this site. Therefore, we would expect the same high quality in those (mostly) free pamphlets available for ordering.
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| Aging Well |
The New York State Office for the Aging posts practical advice targeted to older consumers. The “Eating Well” pages discuss how nutrient needs change as a person gets older, and how an altered sense of taste or smell can affect appetite.
A good feature on this site is the interactive DETERMINE checklist, a tool used by health professionals to identify age-related health and lifestyle changes, such as the loss of a spouse or poorly-fitting dentures, that can make it difficult for some people to meet their nutrient needs. The authors offer some suggestions on how readers can deal with the problems coming between them and adequate nutrition.
All readers can benefit from the interactive quiz in “Safety.” “Can Your Kitchen Pass the Food Safety Test?” poses thoughtful questions about food handling practices in the home.
The site routes NY readers to state agencies that can help them find a group meal site or help them register for Meals On Wheels. A toll-free number at the bottom of the page can provide the same information for consumers in other parts of the United States.
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