I was told by the consultant that I needn't worry about Mary's habit of having dinner with her salt ( I wasn't sure at first if she'd just forgotten she had already put salt on her food, or if it was intentional. ) as taste buds deteriorate with age and salt is a prominent flavour. Mary salts her food all the way through eating, so much so that there is a layer of salt on the plate at the end!!! And I'm not a healthy person who leaves salt out of cooking, either!! I was worried as she isn't meant to have salt because of her blood pressure.
I expect sweet is another strong flavour, but I also think a lot if it is down to ease of eating, ie it's easier to snack on sweets and biscuits than eat decent food. I've given up making meals a battleground, she eats what she feels like. I can't explain why just lately the amount of potato ( mash, boiled or roast) she will eat is rapidly diminishing, although she will still demolish a plate full of chips! I think the recent habit of cutting her food up at the beginning, and then eating with her fingers goes a way to explaining that, it's not so easy to eat mash that way!!!!
Since moving in with us 4 years ago, she has put on weight, but she still refers to berself as being skinny even though she has trouble buttoning her dresses over her belly!!!
A physio friend once told me that using a knife and fork becomes too much for motor skills, the knife being the first to go.