Volume 212 - Issue 8
Hospital food environments: a human and planetary health opportunity
Authors: Genevieve Moseley, Luke Spajic and Georgia Behrens
Med J Aust 2020; 212 (8): 384-384.e1. || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50576
Published online: 4 May 2020
Published online: 4 May 2020
To the Editor: Climate change is this century's greatest global health threat. As the MJA considers the role of the health care sector in climate change, we urge readers to consider hospital food environments.
Australia's health care system should be promoting diets that are healthy for both humans and the planet. A growing body of evidence suggests that healthier human diets have significant environmental co‐benefits. For example, reduced consumption of processed discretionary foods and red meats and increased consumption of fruits, vegetables and legumes have been shown to reduce the risk of certain non‐communicable diseases while also reducing diet‐related greenhouse gas emissions.1,2
Hospital food environments provide a useful intervention point to model and promote healthy, sustainable diets to Australians, as millions of meals are served to patients and their families in hospitals each year.
Hospital food retailer guidelines have recently been developed by state governments and health care providers.3,4 To optimise health care food environments, a first step is to remove fast food outlets, vending machines and sugar‐sweetened beverages from hospitals.
Inpatient food guidelines, however, are mostly outdated and sustainability is rarely considered. Inpatient food services should prioritise the delivery of fresh, locally sourced, unrefined foods with minimal packaging. Meals should adhere to dietary guidelines, be personalised to patients’ health needs, and minimise food waste. A recent audit by the Victorian Government into inpatient food services may provide an important opportunity to initiate reform.5 The Mater Group hospitals’ “at your request” room service exemplifies a cost‐effective food service model, showing improvements in patients’ nutrient intake, clinical outcomes, food waste reduction and patient satisfaction.6
Australia can also learn from the growing number of global initiatives to improve hospital food, including the New Zealand Ministry of Health's sustainability commitments, which include recommendations to encourage plant‐based eating, sustainable food sourcing and reductions in food waste.7 We should also look to innovative programs such as hospital rooftop gardens, hospital teaching kitchens, and traffic light labelling systems.
To protect the health of humans and the planet, we urge state governments and health care providers to urgently evaluate hospital food quality, inpatient food services and retail food environments and implement new mandatory standards.
Competing interests
No relevant disclosures.
References
- Willett W, Rockström J, Loken B, et al. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 2019; 393: 447–492.
- Hadjikakou M. Trimming the excess: environmental impacts of discretionary food consumption in Australia. Ecol Econ 2017; 131: 119–128.
- Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy choices: policy guidelines for hospitals and health services. Melbourne: Victoria State Government, 2016. https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/publications/policiesandguidelines/healthy-choices-guidelines-public-hospitals (viewed Mar 2020).
- Ministry of Health. Healthy Food and Drink in NSW Health Facilities for Staff and Visitors Framework: healthy choices in health facilities. Sydney: NSW Ministry of Health, 2017. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/heal/Publications/hfd-framework.pdf (viewed Mar 2020).
- Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy and high‐quality food in public hospitals and aged care services. Melbourne: State of Victoria, 2020. https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/hospitals-and-health-services/quality-safety-service/healthy-choices (viewed Mar 2020).
- McCray S, Maunder K, Barsha L, et al. Room service in a public hospital improves nutritional intake and increases patient satisfaction while decreasing food waste and cost. J Hum Nutr Diet 2018; 31: 734–741.
- Ministry of Health. Sustainability and the health sector: a guide to getting started. Wellington: Ministry of Health, 2019. https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/sustainability-and-the-health-sector-30jul2019_1.pdf (viewed Mar 2020).