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Hospital Nutrition Mirrors an Unhealthy Lifestyle, and Now an Unhealthy Economy 11-06-08
Why is hospital food so soft? So it doesn't hurt anyone when you throw it out
the window. Safety first! We've all heard jokes about hospital food.
Unfortunately, the truth about hospital nutrition is no joke. It mirrors an
unhealthy lifestyle and now it is aggravated by a struggling economy.
In addition to bland taste, pesticides, artificial preservatives and hormones,
unnecessary antibiotics abound in the processed foods offered in hospitals.
Since it is universally accepted that processed foods have a lower nutritive
value than fresh foods; why would hospitals be feeding their patients food they
know is not healthy? Most U.S. hospitals are in budgetary and service crises,
therefore institutionalized foods are often easier to manage than meals prepared
from scratch, a parallel to many household situations.
Recent inflationary activity in our economy may make processed foods a matter of
financial survival for hospitals. In the year 2007, wheat prices rose 77 percent
and rice 16 percent. These were some of the sharpest price hikes ever. But this
year the speed of change has accelerated even further. Since January 2008, the
price of rice has soared just over 140 percent. When you couple these statistics
with sky rocketing fuel costs; it may make fresh foods out of reach for all but
the wealthiest of hospitals.
"Like most food service, we've painted ourselves into a corner by focusing on
the wrong issues." says John Turenne, who owns and operates a consulting and
technical services company (Sustainable Food Systems, LLC) that helps
institutions like hospitals, schools, universities and businesses make better
decisions about food. "Everything has been 'bottom line' driven, with very
little regard, if any, of the deeper impact the food has on all of us and our
planet. Highly processed, cheap food, prepared by limited or unskilled staff has
been the common result."
Jamie Harvie coordinates the healthy food in healthcare campaign for Health Care
Without Harm, an international coalition dedicated to transforming the health
care sector worldwide, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a
source of harm to public health and the environment. His observation says it
all, "the food in our hospitals is similar to the food we find in many homes,
restaurants and hotels. Some is excellent and much is highly processed,
nutritionally deplete, overcooked and the processes used to grow the food are
having tremendous impacts on public health" (a broad term that includes health
and safety, ecological integrity, socio-economic health of communities, etc).
How hospital food is prepared can further reduce its nutritional content. A
study published in the Journal of Food Service in October 2006 states "the
common practice of overheating hospital food served to patients can reduce
levels of Vitamin C, an important marker of nutritional content, by up to 86
percent."
You should be given the option to eat a healthy diet when admitted to hospital
care, even if you have to pay more. In fact the opposite is often true.
Increased numbers of franchised fast food service operations are readily
available as a replacement for standard hospital cafeteria fare. Patients have
increasingly easy access to high-fat, high-calorie, less nutrient-dense foods.
According to a report put out by the American Diabetes Association: "coffee
carts, hospitality carts, and so forth abound in strategic, high-traffic areas
in acute care environments. In some institutions, these carts are wheeled into
patient care areas and snack foods and beverages are sold, making adherence to a
structured carbohydrate and nutrient intake more difficult."
"About 30 hospitals have McDonald's restaurants in their lobbies," states Gary
Cohen, co-founder of Health Care Without Harm, "Here we are with 60 million
Americans who are obese and 120 million who are overweight and we're feeding
people in hospitals food that contributes to obesity. Stuff like that just
amazes me."
The idea of one stop shopping for consumers seems to have no limit in our
society. While visiting your friend or relative in the hospital you can put
yourself into the bed next to them by just super sizing in the lobby.
Comments:
This is so true. The problem with cheap hospital food is patient perception. "If they feed it to me in the hospital, it must be good for me'!
I saw this shocking truth the week of my father's bypass operation. 2 day before surgery, for dinner he had: A cheeseburger and fries (gourmet style and size), a beirock (basically a large biscuit stuffed with hamburger and cheese and cabbage), apple pie, gelatin with fruit, roll, margarine, coffee and diet soda, 3 Splenda packets, crackers and cheese and salt and pepper packets. He had the same the very night before surgery. My thought was "they're trying to kill him", ironically there is a cemetery next to the hospital. I was shocked and asked the nurse if this was ordered in or cooked on site. She said the hospital cannot afford good food so they order from the restaurant in the lobby. I said he is diabetic and a heat patient and should be on a restricted diet, but she replied that they let patients have whatever they want.
The sad truth is hospital stays are typically les than 3 days ( thanks to Insurance being in charge) and that what you eat there doesn't matter and you can adhere to a special diet at home. In the horrible event you end up in the hospital you can have food brought in or try to choose the healthiest foods from the menu. Remember the nurses have access to other foods than on the menu ask them.