AUSTRALIA: Many elderly Australians going hungry

MELBOURNE (Herald Sun), June 26, 2008: Fay Burstin ONE in eight older people say they don't have enough to eat or enough of the kind of food they want, a study has found. Rising food and fuel prices, a lack of transport to shops, poor health and restricted diets caused many to go hungry. A Monash University-RMIT survey of about 80 people aged 56-94, who used meals-on-wheels and seniors' dining room services in Melton, found many struggled to feed themselves properly. While none of the group, mostly pensioners, said they couldn't afford to buy food, 23 per cent said they'd sought help from food relief agencies. Some said a lack of money often restricted food choices. Almost half grew their own fruit, vegetables and herbs, and 12 per cent of them relied on home-grown produce as their main source of fresh food. Study co-author Dr Susan Feldman said many elderly people were too proud to admit they couldn't afford to eat properly. "They knew about food banks and said that when bills piled up, the pension didn't cover everything," she told a Monash University and Brotherhood of St Laurence conference on healthy ageing. "This is a very dire situation for many people. And there's no indication that the situation is any better anywhere else in Victoria, and it may well be worse," she said yesterday. Many older people now spend up to 70 per cent of their pension on rent and struggle to buy food, representatives of the Housing for Aged Action Group and the Brotherhood of St Laurence told the conference. The study was commissioned last year after local and state governments raised concerns that many older people couldn't afford or obtain nutritious and culturally acceptable food. A lack of transport was highlighted as a major barrier to proper nutrition. More than a third of those surveyed weren't within walking distance of shops, and even those who were, found walking up to 500 metres too demanding. More than two-thirds had to drive, and many women were forced to rely on their husbands to do so. More than 35 per cent had difficulty cooking or eating because of arthritis, diabetes and dental or digestive problems. One in three sought help from family and friends, and up to half relied on council services, including cheap or free community buses to shops, home-delivered food, lunch and dinner clubs, and community kitchens run by church and ethnic groups. © Herald and Weekly Times