Some years ago my uncle was admitted to hospital suffering from dehydration and malnutrition, despite the effort of every one around him, to encourage him to eat and drink. When I visited him the following day, as I walked into the ward the nurse by his bed said to me in an aggressive tone. 'He won't eat anything'.
Beside him on the bed table was a large plate of steak
pie, boiled carrots and boiled potatoes, with a dark brown gravy on it that could have been picked up in one piece, and rhubarb pie and custard, with a similar consistency to the gravy. I turned round to the nurse and said ' If I was in his situation, I wouldn't eat it either'. The look of shock on her face was a pleasure to see.
Next time I visited he had been moved to the mental health ward, where they were encouraging him, successfully, to drink those high protein/calorie drinks, even if only in tiny sips.