In healthcare facilities, undernutrition is a real public health issue: 6 out of 10 hospitalized patients are affected. To combat this problem, an LREM deputy has just launched a program in three test establishments aimed at improving the quality of food served to patients.
Undernutrition is far from being a problem affecting only developing countries. This deficit in energy intake also affects developed countries, in particular people suffering from acute or chronic illnesses, the elderly, as well as children and adolescents.
Sometimes serious consequences on health and quality of life
France is not spared. In 2015, a report by the Academy of Pharmacy highlighted that undernutrition particularly affects healthcare establishments: between 30% and 60% of hospitalized patients suffer from undernutrition during their stay. In children, undernutrition affects 15% to 30% of patients. This rate rises to more than 65% among elderly people hospitalized for long stays.
However, malnutrition during hospitalization can have serious consequences. According to a brochure from the Ministry of Health and coordinated by the hospital practitioner Jean-Fabien Zazzo, undernutrition can influence the progression of the disease, but also the speed of healing, drug tolerance, immune defenses and the risk of occurrence of nosocomial infectious complications, or even mortality.
In children, malnutrition immediately leads to a break in the growth curve. It is also linked to a loss of muscle mass, which leads to dependence in the gestures of daily life in the elderly. Finally, a deficit in energy intake is linked to an increase in falls, depression, a reduction in the quality of life and above all to a perpetuation of a dietary imbalance, which aggravates the undernutrition already present.
“Meals in the hospital”, to fight against malnutrition
How to explain that so many hospitalized patients suffer from undernutrition? If its causes are obviously medical, it is also the insufficient and sometimes poor quality food supply offered in health establishments that is pointed out.
In an interview given to Parisian in October 2016, Professor Éric Fontaine, doctor and president of the Francophone Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, explained that “we only spend €3.73 – on average – per day to feed patients”. “There are often no more than 1,700 calories on the plate when there should be 2,500.”
It is precisely to improve the quality of the food served to patients, and therefore to fight against malnutrition, that Frédéric Descrozaille, LREM deputy for Val-de-Marne, has just launched the “Meals at the hospital” project. Supported by the executive, he plans to “bring pleasure back to the patient table”, by offering healthier, more balanced, but also tastier menus. “You have to get independent patients out of their room, have them eat in a restaurant where they can choose what they want to eat. Activity, conviviality, pleasure… it only has advantages”, explains the Parisian Frédéric Descrozaille, who receives help from the General Directorate for the supply of care and the interprofessional network of co-managed collective catering “Restau’Co”.
Three healthcare establishments will experiment with “Meals at the hospital” from April 2019 to June 2020. For the time being, a call for applications to which 40 public and private establishments have responded has been launched. “Six will be pre-selected at the end of November. They will be audited by catering professionals, doctors and patient representatives”, explains Frédéric Descrozaille, who has one objective: to offer 20% organic products and 30% products from sustainable agriculture in healthcare establishments by 2021.
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