help with possible eating disorder

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I hope it's OK to ask a question here about how to support my Mum who is in her 80s and is eating very little and losing weight. She has always eaten tiny portions and eaten mostly snacks but her weight seemed to be fairly constant - although she's always been very slight- and she was energetic. However, in the last year (lots has happened including my Dad dying) things seem worse and she sometimes tries to hide food and put food off her plate in the bin instead of eating it. We've not been able to visit for a while but reports from carers are concerning as she's only having a couple of sips of her cups of coffee - she always loved coffees and drank lots - and not eating even tiny snacks. Meals they shop for together are still in the fridge the next day and Mum says she can't remember if she's eaten. Sometimes the meals are in the bin with only a tiny bit gone. The social worker was round the other day to see if Mum needed support and spoke about how she was worried my Mum looked like she'd lost weight and that she would arrange for her to be weighed and Mum immediately said that she wouldn't know from that if she'd lost weight as she (SW) hadn't known what she weighed before. I would like to be able to help her. I've asked for the GP to do a health check - is it best to ask him what options are for support? I feel she needs some mental health help rather than someone coming in and making meals for her which is what is offered at the moment. She'd hate that and is also able to do this for herself so would be unlikely to agree to it. I'm also worried that anything heavy handed like that might make the problem worse because pressure around food doesn't help. She never wants to talk about this or anything to do with how she's feeling, always saying she's fine. Thanks for your help

Poor mum, the g.p does need to see her, it could be that she is depressed or is forgetting to eat. The doctor could make a referral to the community dietician and the mental health team if she needs that. Would she have things like fortified drinks, soups, mousse, complain, ice cream, anything that is easy to prepare and can be eaten when the carers are there. Is she in pain at all, in her mouth, throat or tummy that might make her not want to eat anything.

Thanks DogSausages I will ask the GP about all that. Mum has very fixed ideas of what she will eat so I'm not sure she'd agree to try different things but we can try. She says she's not in pain apart from some long term back pain that she has meds for. Her mood has seemed fairly bright until very recently when she's been quieter - since after the SW visit in fact

Its probably worth getting her a health check up, is she having trouble swallowing? Is she constipated/diahorrea and so doesnt want to eat because of it. My Gma started not eating and she had developed mouth sores and tooth problems and just couldnt bear to chew.

thanks SeaToSki we should definitely get a that checked out