There was a healthy eating item on BBC breakfast this morning discussing hospital food. James Martin, TV chef, has bravely entered the fray in an effort to raise awareness and standards of what is served in these institutions. In a programme entitled ‘Operation Hospital Food’, James has taken the incredibly small budget of under £4.00 per day per patient and somehow managed to present much healthier meals.
It is beyond my comprehension why food is not part of any treatment protocol implemented by medics. Whilst there is an acceptance that some foods will contribute to illness there seems to be collective nutritional blindness that food is essential to health and specifically recovery. If patients are fed nutritiously during their treatment their conditions will improve faster and I assume, free up the beds sooner.
However, it is not only the hospital kitchens that require information and education regarding the necessity and preparation of good food but also the end user (the patients) too. I believe this captive audience is a missed opportunity.
I’m sure that many of those recovering in hospital would love to know how they can contribute to their own long term health and do their best to ensure that a future hospital visit is delayed or maybe, not required.
Some basic and interesting nutritional information should be offered to those who are interested (I’m not suggesting that everyone has to take this up, although………….). There is enough well researched information that supports the connection between food and health for the doctors who need to be convinced.
James and his team must have worked hard to come up with good solutions and great meals. All that would have entailed the generation of lots of nutritional information. This could very easily be recycled into a user friendly format for patients, allowing them to take home some very valuable dietary health care strategies.
I am delighted that this story (which has a week to run), has entered the limelight (again!) and seems to have a happy ending. I hope that the message spreads to other hospitals and the administrators that healthy eating is doable, even on a ridiculously small budget.
This is a fantastic opportunity to really embed the healthy eating message deeply into the consciousness of the public at large. If hospitals can emphasise the importance of good food through the meals they provide and a few paper hand-outs, then we really might begin to see people get the message that healthy eating equals real and long term well being.