Academic Journal
Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Medical Practice Management; Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 02 Dec 2011 - 9:00 PST
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One would assume in light of the obesity epidemic amongst the nation's youngsters that children's hospital would lead by example in being a role model for healthy eating, however, a new study published in Academic Pediatrics shows that that in Californian hospitals only 7% of entrees classify as being 'healthy'.
According to a study by researchers from UCLA and the RAND Corporation, an assessment of 14 food venues at the state's 12 major children's hospitals revealed that hospitals were falling short in their offerings and practices of healthy eating.
Leading researcher Dr. Lenard Lesser, a physician in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program in the Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA declared:
"As health professionals, we understand the connection between healthy eating and good health, and our hospitals should be role models in this regard. Unfortunately, the food in many hospitals is no better - and in some cases worse - than what you would find in a fast food restaurant."
To rate the food being offered in hospital cafeterias, researchers developed a modified version of the Nutrition Environment Measures Scale for Restaurants (NEMS-R) as an evaluation tool, which accounts for various factors, including pricing, availability of vegetables, nutrition labeling, combo promotions and healthy beverages.
From a range of 0 being the 'least healthy' to 37 being the 'most healthy', the average overall score for the 14 hospitals food venues was 19.1. Only 7% of a total of 359 entrees served at the hospitals classified as healthy under the NEMS criteria, and although almost all hospitals offered healthy alternatives like fruit, less than one third of the healthy options contained nutrition information at the point of sale or signs that promote healthy eating.
The study's key findings mention that although all 14 food venues offered low fat or skim milk and diet soda, 81% offered high-calorie, high-sugar items, such as biscuits and ice cream near the cash register. Only 25% of hospitals sold whole wheat bread, and half of the hospitals provided no indication of carrying healthy entrees. 44% of hospitals did not have low calorie salad dressings.
The researchers presented their findings to the hospital administrators to encourage improvement, as no one had ever documented the levels of healthy food on offer in these hospitals. After being presented with the findings of the study in July 2010, some of the hospitals involved in the survey decided to pro-actively either improve and/or reduce unhealthy food on offer by lowering the price of salads, eliminating fried food, and raising the price of sugary beverages or eliminating them altogether from their cafeterias.
Lesser commented:
"The steps some hospitals are already taking to improve nutrition and reduce junk food are encouraging. We plan to make this nutritional quality measurement tool available to hospitals around the country to help them assess and improve their food offerings."
According to the researchers, hospitals can improve the food they offer by providing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and smaller portions. They can also reduce the amount of low-nutrient choices, and offer low-cost options to promote healthy eating by attracting attention through signs and not offering unhealthy impulse items at the checkout.
Lesser asks:
"If we can't improve the food environment in our hospitals, how do we expect to improve the health of food in our community? By serving as role models for healthy eating, we can make a small step toward helping children prevent the onset of dietary-related chronic diseases."
The hospitals surveyed included: Children's Hospital Central CaliforniaChildren's Hospital Los AngelesChildren's Hospital of Orange CountyChildren's Hospital & Research Center at OaklandLoma Linda University Children's HospitalLucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at StanfordMiller Children's HospitalRady Children's Hospital - San DiegoMattel Children's Hospital UCLAUniversity Children's Hospital at University of California, IrvineUniversity of California, Davis Children's HospitalUniversity of California, San Diego Children's HospitalUniversity of California, San Francisco Children's HospitalChildren's Center at Sutter Medical Center, SacramentoWritten by Petra Rattue
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8 Dec. 2011.
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