My 89-year-old father has started scrounging around my kitchen for food, at any time of day. Any suggestions?

Thanks for replies. Dad has been diagnosed with "mild dementia", and is often forgets what day it is, etc. He will often leave part of his meal, and then be rooting around for something to eat within minutes.
Definitely a change in behavior for him. . .no qualms about eating something belonging to someone else.
We have put out a basket of small portioned snacks, just for him. . .which he devours in no time flat.
I'm presuming that this is just another step of the Dementia. . .and one we will simply have to learn to deal with.

When my Alz. mother was going through this phase which lasted probably close to 2 years, she would and could drink the whole carton of OJ, and she ate sugar by the spoonful. She raided the fridge, opened up containers and picked up food with her unwashed hands. She opened the kitchen cupboard, sampled the spice jars, even ate some non-food stuff. We had to lock the fridge, the cabinets, the cupboards, pantry, and even closets.

We left out various snacks in small portions on the kitchen table so she could eat what she wanted when she was bored. I also liked to give her chewing gums because they were long lasting and kept her occupied with chewing.

What does your father have to say when you ask him why he's constantly scrounging around for food?

Any new & odd behavior in the elderly is cause for concern. Behavior that is obsessive such as this, and him showing no signs of remorse for wrongdoing, smack of dementia. Has your father been to his PCP recently and checked for cognitive decline? If not, I would suggest it.

Some types of dementia cause an insatiable appetite, especially for sugary snacks. It's suggested to feed the elder 6 small meals a day in order to satisfy his hunger a bit better. Sometimes, an elder with dementia will forget they ate immediately after doing so, and demand more food, and keep doing so over & over again. My mother's friend in Memory Care does that exact thing; demands lunch to be served right after she's eaten, complaining of being hungry.

Have you noticed any other odd/new behavior with dad such as forgetting things, or not knowing what day it is? Elders with dementia have the dickens of a time knowing the day of the week, for some reason.

Here is a link to a good article on 10 early symptoms to look out for:

https://www.healthline.com/health/dementia/early-warning-signs

In the meantime, use those childproof lock gadgets for the cabinets that you don't want dad to get into. If he can unlock them and snatch the food, then you'll need to figure out where else you can hide the food that he won't be able to get to. We've had lots of these kinds of posts over the years here, so you may want to do a search for 'locking up food' or something of that nature, to see what comes up.

Good luck!

Hide the food you don't want eaten and leave out food that is good for him or not detrimental to his health in any quantity. Hopefully he won't start in on spices or condiments, but you may have to hide those too, just in case. Other posters will provide solutions that worked for them.