Health can be greatly affected when a person has anosmia. Because anosmia results from an olfactory deficit, there is usually a loss of taste. A taste loss is one of the first things noticed by people losing their sense smell. This loss of taste can greatly affect a person's eating habits. Many people with anosmia are known to skip meals because the appeal for food is not there.
Nothing seems to taste good anymore and the flavor is gone.
Not eating results in malnutrition and involuntary weight loss. This can also lead to illness because the proper foods are not being eaten to keep a person healthy. The primary reinforcers for eating are saticity and pleasure. Anosmia can also have the opposite effect and cause a person to overeat to compensate for the loss of taste. A study was conducted in 1995 analyzing smell disorders and how they effect nutrition of elderly women.