The evolution of hospital meals

Even logistically, caring for several hundred beds in large clinics and supplying food and drink is already a very complex task. Furthermore, more than ten different professions are part of the food supply chain – far beyond kitchen, care management and the nutrition team. Caretakers play an important role within this process, yet there are often too little staff members on a team, resulting in personnel overburdened with other tasks, leaving the patients without sufficient individual care. Patients who require support while eating will especially suffer from the lack of attention. Patients’ preferences and nutrition concepts are often neglected. Examinations and therapeutic measures can make the situation even more complicated. A patient who has a scheduled exam around noon will in many hospitals be forced to eat a cold or microwaved meal later.

As most hospitals have a limited budget for meals per capita per day, for economical reasons it is hardly possible to supply every patient with their individual meal requests regarding schedules and eating habits. For financial reasons, the preparation takes place in central kitchens miles away from the respective hospital. Even when the meals leave the kitchen hot and in good quality, they will arrive at patients’ tables cold or overcooked.

There is no doubt that many improvements can be made within the nutrition management of several hospitals. After all, nutrition has switched from being a fundamental need, to an effective part of a doctor’s therapy and prevention, within the past few years. This important shift is also visible in several studies on undernutrition and malnourishment. According to these studies, approximately 25% of all hospital patients suffer from undernourishment or malnutrition. Many patients becoming affected during therapy development as an inpatient. The affected patients suffer more often from complications, remain in hospital longer and are at a higher risk of death, than patients with a healthy nutrition status.

In the past few years, developments have led to the revaluation of nutrition strategies at hospitals. Many places are working on their supply and logistics for patients. The red cross hospital in Kassel established the Kassel model, which aims at individual patient care in regards to nutrition. The plan combines affordable strategies with knowledge about modern nutrition medicine on patients who suffer from malnutrition. The main aspects of this model have been published and also adapted in various clinics all over Europe. This model recommends to equip all viewing rooms for patients with calibrated digital scales, such as the seca 878 as well as measuring sticks, like the seca 222. With these tools, the patient’s size, weight and BMI can be determined with standardized measures.

Our tip: to enable a visibly more effective and time saving procedure, we recommend using the ultrasound measuring station seca 287 which is suitable for radio transmission and can measure and wirelessly transmit all the mentioned parameters in only one step. Alongside these measurements, the doctor records the patient’s detailed nutrition details. With the data from the measuring devices and the case history at hand, malnutrition can be detected and treated early on.

To evaluate the patient’s nutrition status, the seca mBCA 515  and the mobile seca mBCA 525 are especially handy. These devices not only measure the BMI, which can be calculated with a standardized formula, but also determine the exact body composition. The ratio of fat and muscle tissue as well as the body water can be accurately distinguished from one another. This data also offers valuable information for various other applications.