Primary Care and General Pediatrics

Diet and nutrition play an important role in promoting recovery from different illnesses. Patient's nutritional status often deteriorate during hospitalization; a study has shown that nutritional status was declined in 29% of well-nourished patients during their hospital stay1. Besides health reasons and hospital environment2, food habits and preferences are one of the important factors affecting food intake of hospitalized patients. Food habits are the main aspect of many cultures, and cannot therefore be easily changed, or else it will affect food intake and meals pattern.   Saudi people from different distinct regions eat different foods and have different food habits. The food ingredients, type, cooking methods and preservation techniques vary among these regions. 

Hospitalized patients often find it difficult to adjust, from their traditional food, to a standard hospital menu. This may result in reducing intake of food and increasing risk of malnutrition. One major step in promoting good nutritional care in hospitals is to ensure that hospital menus take into consideration patients’ needs and preferences. Moreover, patients should be involved in planning their meals and choosing their food items in order to customize their dietary plan to accelerate recovery from illness and reduce the length of hospital stay. 

In my presentation I will discuss the difficulties that some patients admitted to King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC)/Riyadh may face with food presented to them. I will also discuss the methods that are used by the hospital Food Service department to assess patient satisfaction with the food available (e.g. tray assessment method), and how these methods can be used to explore the reasons for low food consumption of some patients. Moreover, I will present the results and examples of tray assessment process for hospitalized patients over two weeks. The process of dealing with patients to fulfil their dietary requirements and preparing meals in accordance with their tradition and preference will also be discussed.