Abstract
The prevalence of hospital malnutrition has received considerable attention because of its impact on the healing process. Whether the inadequacy of intake is due to the hospital diet itself or due to the patients' low intake has not been investigated. A random sample of 93 adult hospitalized non-surgical patients was recruited from five different hospitals in Beirut. Nutritional assessment of the patient was carried out by taking anthropometric and haematological measurements and by recording actual food intake from the hospital diet for 3 days. The regular and therapeutic diets of the hospitals were assessed for nutritional adequacy. Only 11.8% of the patients had low caloric intake. Food consumed by the patient was low in calcium, iron, zinc, copper, vitamin B, vitamin Bn, folic acid, ascorbic acid and vitamin D. Hospital diets were also low in the following: vitamin B6, vitamin D, zinc and copper, while vitamin C was low in one hospital. These findings demonstrate that the patients' food intake is deficient in a number of vitamins and minerals and that certain hospital diets are inadequate in some of the essential nutrients. Serious measures to enhance food intake by patients and to improve quality and appeal of hospital diets are recommended.
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