YOU may think I’m a curmudgeonly, and possibly short-sighted, old thing, but I get tired of listening to some parents going on and on about giving their children the best start in life when in fact, all they’re doing is spoiling them rotten. If I ever voice this, I normally get a response along the lines of: “Oh come on, you can’t blame the parents for wanting to give their children the best.” Oh yes you can. Living one’s life through one’s children, and giving them that which we didn’t have, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re getting what’s best for them.

There was a recent national radio programme discussing the fact that accommodation while at university was going to cost some students more than their student loan provision. Various parents were interviewed saying that they had no option but to give their children lots more money just to keep their progeny alive and I found myself shouting at the radio: “Make them get a job!”

You may say there aren’t the jobs to be had, but there are. Most university towns and cities have so many bars, clubs, restaurants and supermarkets that there always parttime jobs a-plenty.

The irony expressed here makes you wonder if it’s the student population of the UK that’s fuelling the recovery.

And experience has demonstrated that the most employable and wellbalanced graduates, well set-up to deal with the challenges of modern life, are those that have learnt to manage the work/life balance of academia, paid work and drinking their university town dry.

Encouraging our children to teach themselves the discipline of hard studying, tenacious job-hunting and managing hangovers is the biggest favour they can be given, rather than being funded through the whole thing by just a combination of tax revenue and Mummy and Daddy.

So that’s the youngsters sorted, who then are hopefully in a position to get on with their mature middle years where they work like slaves to try to pay their mortgage and bring up their own children. And because they were given a sensible start to adulthood, they can largely be ignored. So that leaves us able to concentrate on those that really do need some help: the elderly.

We’re all going to live longer than we might have done a few years ago.

Obviously retirement age has therefore increased; but only by a handful of years. Whereas average life expectancy is now forecast to be well into the late eighties or even longer. And while it’s all very well living longer, what’s the quality of those extra years going to be like?

Good health is usually considered important for a reasonable quality of life, but so are things such as living conditions, friendship, stimulation, a few luxuries, nice clothes, the occasional trip away.

So why is it that it’s generally considered that older people should be prepared to put up with rubbish food? Because that’s the case. Have you experienced the quality of many of the meals targeted at the elderly?

It’s an insult to expect an elderly person to have to accept something that’s not as good as everyone else would eat. After all, as you reach the later stages of life, many of the things that turned you on when you were younger have fallen by the wayside. Dancing the night away in clubs, staying up all hours with friends, going on adventure holidays, experiencing the first thrill of love; these things become distant memories for many.

But the satisfaction of a good book is assisted by spectacles and a stronger reading light. Good music can be helped by turning the volume up a bit. Surroundings can be made to help the elderly feel safe. So food and drink should be as stimulating and satisfying as each person wishes and can afford.

That’s why it’s particularly impressive to read that the French have introduced a bar plus wine tastings into one of their hospitals for those nearing the end of their life. This is a brilliant idea. We should be spending more resources on improving the quality of life of the elderly. After all, if we don’t, but then change our mind, it might be too late to do anything about it whereas with the young, it’s always possible to correct things later – if they haven’t initially grasped the opportunity of their start in life.

It’s why we, at Oldfields, produce a range of ready traditional meals aimed at, though not exclusively, that market. There should be choice in hospitals and care homes; not just of product but price, and maybe supplier, as well.

Don’t you just love the idea of a drinks trolley with a choice of wines, beers and spirits trundling around? Or the option of spending £10 of one’s own money on a plate of food rather than someone else deciding how little should be spent on the meal? And then we can all spend our spare cash ensuring that our elderly nearest and dearest get the best finish in life. Rather than wasting it by giving the young and able a good start.