Good food should be part of hospital care

While many may accept that terrible food is an inevitable part of a hospital stay, David Eisenberg, adjunct associate professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, thinks hospitals should offer better, more nutritious food to improve patients’ health. He spoke to the New York Times for a September 20, 2018 article on efforts to transform hospital menus from fried and processed to fresh and organic.

According to a JAMA estimate, nearly half of deaths from heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes are caused by poor diet. By serving better food, hospitals have an opportunity to teach patients about healthier eating—and potentially improve their morale and speed recovery, according to experts quoted in the Times.

Eisenberg said that American medical schools do a poor job of teaching future doctors about nutrition. Students learn more about the biochemistry behind food’s effects on the body than on how to advise their patients to eat healthier, he said. To remedy this, Eisenberg is helping develop teaching kitchens at U.S. hospitals.

Read the New York Times article: Hospital Food You Can Get Excited About

Learn more
Doctors need more nutrition education (Harvard Chan School news)