Menu Planning and Nutrition in the Non-Commercial Food Operations - Coursework Example

Menu Planning and Nutrition in the Non Commercial Food Operations Name Number Course Code Date Executive summary Nutrition and menu planning in hospital has for a long time been treated with low priority. It has however emerged to be one of the most essential factors that has facilitated the effectiveness of patient care and treatment. This paper provides a detailed description of the history and the benefits and importance of menu planning for hospitals. Additionally, it identifies some of the meal takers in a hospital and their nutritional and dietary needs. Finally the paper elaborates some examples of menus and meal plans for some of the common diseases treated in hospitals. History and importance of Menu planning for Hospitals According to Beck et al (2001), nutrition and menu planning in the hospitals has for a long time been given a low priority rather than a recognition as one of the most important and integral part of patient care and treatment. For a long time, there has been an absence of a national menu plan that can be adopted in hospitals as a guideline for patients particularly in acute conditions. Effective patient treatment and care can be effectively achieved by incorporating good nutrition in the patient’s diet. In patients often spend a lot of time in hospital getting treatment mostly for acute ailments that requires close patient care. With a well-balanced and regular nutritious menu, these patients can quickly recover from their ailments. As Hippocrates once stated “Food is your medicine hence let your medicine be your food” (Beck et al, 2001). In the last decade, many countries have embraced the need for national standards and guidelines for menu planning in hospitals. This was occasioned by the significant number of problems experienced in hospitals particularly in nutritional support and care given to undernourished as well as other patients. These problems mainly included limited food choices and the inadequate help given to the patients that need special care. Most health care facilities therefore saw the need to standardise menu planning and nutrition. The key to providing a high quality and effective treatment in the hospital is by providing nutritious and good food to the patients. The number of patients with good nutritional status is an indication of the quality of patient care and treatment provided by the health care facility (Scotland, 2003). Hospitals must therefore ensure that their menus are planned to meet the nutritious needs of the patients. The menus should provide sufficient food choice to give patients adequate nutrition. Focus should shift from the production, preparation and serving of specific diets to patients. Hospital must focus more on the frequent provision of nutritious foods to patients (Scotland, 2003). Groups of meal takers and their nutritional needs It is important to understand that the hospital is made of different population groups who will need different nutritional and food service suitable for their needs. The nutritional needs in the hospital will vary unlike in other settings such as schools. In a hospital the nutrition and food requirements will depend on the age, gender, the type of illness among other requirements. Therefore, there are several menus that are needed in a hospital to meet the requirements of different types of meal takers. There are different types of patients in a hospital who require different meals and nutrition care depending on their disease. More than often the patients admitted in a hospital have unique needs that require high energy. Patients in hospitals often have low appetites, they have mostly lost weight because of their illness. For this reason they are put on a menu with high calorie and high protein foods. It is therefore important to identify and understand the different kind’s types of meal takers in the hospital in order to aide in preparation of the menus (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). When a patient is admitted to a hospital, they are evaluated to determine their nutritional status a screening for under nutrition is done on admission and on an ongoing basis to evaluate the progress. This is done on the first day of admission using a Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). The screening must also be able to identify under nutrition in patients and other factors that will affect the intake of food and fluids such as loss of appetite. Consequently, the screening identifies two categories of meal takers; nutritionally vulnerable meal takers and nutritionally well meal takers (Beck et al, 2001). Nutritionally vulnerable meal takers are patients who are malnourished and whose nutritional needs have gone unrecognised for a period of time. Some of the major patients with nutritional vulnerability are young children, pregnant mothers and older adults. These patients have unexplained or unintentional weight loss, they have difficulty eating or drinking or ingesting food. They also have chronic or acute illness that affects food intake and the appetite. This group therefore needs increased nutritional requirements to increase their immunity and also increase strength hence facilitating quick recovery (Beck et al, 2001). Most dietary intakes by most patients in hospitals do not meet the nutrient and energy requirement particularly for nutritionally vulnerable patients. This group of meal takers must be served with tasty, nutrient and energy-dense foods in modest portions. Nutritionally vulnerable meal takers must be given a menu with at least 50% energy derived from fat. This is to supplement their lack of appetite, low food intake and high energy requirement. The menu should also be texture modified and given to patients with chewing and swallowing difficulties. Most importantly, the patients must be accorded generous opportunities to eat in order to achieve the nutritional requirements (Beck et al, 2001). On the other hand the nutritionally well meal takers in the hospital are the healthy meal takers in a hospital setting. These are patients who are not at any risk of malnutrition or malnourishment. They should have a healthy- eating menu with at least 35% of energy derived from fat. They should also take the recommended daily amounts of protein as stipulated in the healthcare and nutrition guidelines (Beck et al, 2001). Nutritional needs and requirements Example of a Menu for Diabetes Diabetes is a disease that basically affects the way the body processes sugar in the blood. It is a long-term condition that affects the blood sugar levels. A person suffering from diabetes has a high blood sugar levels caused by inadequate production of insulin or the non-response of body cells to insulin. Therefore, the blood sugar levels must be managed or regulated artificially. An effective management of diabetes is through diet management (Schaffer et al, 2007). This is an example of a menu plan for a patient suffering from diabetes (Pastors et al, 2002). Break Fast 1/2 cup V-8 juice  3/4 cup bran flakes  Sugar substitute  1 cup fat-free milk  1 slice whole wheat toast  1 tsp. margarine or low-sugar jelly  Coffee Lunch Sliced turkey sandwich (2 slices whole wheat bread, 2 oz. turkey, sliced tomato, 1 tsp. low-fat mayonnaise)  1 apple  Diet Coke  1 cup fat-free milk Dinner 3-4 oz. lean beef, chicken, or fish  1 small baked potato  1 cup broccoli  1 small dinner roll  Tossed salad with fat-free dressing  1 pear  2 tsp. margarine  Tea  Sugar substitute Evening Snack 3 graham cracker squares (1 1/2 sheets)  8 oz. fat-free milk or 1/2 meat sandwich with fresh fruit Example of a menu for Hypertension High blood pressure (Hypertension) is a condition where blood pressure is elevated and causes blood to flow at high speeds. It is often associated with causing heart attacks and other heart diseases (Shils & Shike, 2006). Sample menu plan for hypertension Break Fast 1 store-bought (commercial) whole-wheat bagel with 2 tablespoons peanut butter (no salt added) 1 medium orange 1 cup fat-free milk Decaffeinated coffee Lunch Spinach salad made with: 4 cups of fresh spinach leaves 1 sliced pear 1/2 cup canned mandarin orange sections 1/3 cup slivered almonds 2 tablespoons red wine vinaigrette 12 reduced-sodium wheat crackers 1 cup fat-free milk Dinner Herb-crusted baked cod, 3 ounces cooked (about 4 ounces raw) ½ cup brown rice pilaf with vegetables ½ cup fresh green beans, steamed 1 small sourdough roll 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 cup fresh berries with chopped mint Herbal iced tea Snack (any time) 1 cup fat-free, low-calorie yogurt 4 vanilla wafers Example of a Menu for Anaemic patients Anaemia is deficiency of iron in the body. Patients suffering from anaemia have high deficiency of iron in their bodies. Anaemia leaves a patient tired, decreases concentration ability and significantly lowers the immune function (Shils & Shike, 2006). Break Fast 1 cup of iron-fortified instant oatmeal with 4 tbsp. of raisins 1 cup of orange juice. Coffee and tea should be taken in between meals Lunch Roast beef sandwich made with 3 oz. of lean roast beef deli meat on two slices of iron-enriched bread. 1 cup of sliced strawberries, carrot sticks Cup of low-fat yogurt Dinner 3 oz. of roasted chicken breast with a medium baked potato 1 tsp. of margarine, 1 cup of cooked lima beans and steamed broccoli. Example of a menu for a Child Children in hospitals experience low appetites and difficulty in ingesting foods. Therefore, they will need food with low texture for easy chewing and swallowing. They will also need enough fibre rich foods to help in digestion (Shils & Shike, 2006). Break Fast 1/2 small banana 1/2 cup Cheerios 1 slice whole wheat toast with margarine 1 cup milk Lunch 1-2 oz. turkey 2 slices whole wheat bread 1 lettuce leaf 1 medium orange 1 cup milk Snack 1 medium apple Dinner 2-3 oz. fish 1/2 cup mashed potatoes 1 whole wheat roll 1/2 cup green beans with margarine 1 cup milk Snack 2 graham crackers 1 cup milk References Beck, A. M., Balkn, U. N., Fürst, P., Hasunen, K., Jones, L., Keller, U. & Ovesen, L. (2001). Food and nutritional care in hospitals: how to prevent undernutrition–report and guidelines from the Council of Europe. Clinical Nutrition, 20(5), 455-460. Pastors, J. G., Warshaw, H., Daly, A., Franz, M., & Kulkarni, K. (2002). The evidence for the effectiveness of medical nutrition therapy in diabetes management. Diabetes care, 25(3), 608-613. Schafer, R. G., Bohannon, B., Franz, M., Freeman, J., Holmes, A., McLAUGHLIN, S. U. E., ... & McMAHON, M. M. (2007). Translation of the diabetes nutrition recommendations for health care institutions: technical review. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 97(1), 43-51. Shils, M. E., & Shike, M. (Eds.). (2006). Modern nutrition in health and disease. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Scotland, N. Q. I. (2003). Food, fluid and nutritional care in hospitals. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. US Department of Health and Human Services. (2008). Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives-Nutrition Priority Area. Nutrition Today, 25(6), 29-39. Read More