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Introduction: It has previously been shown that, although more than sufficient amounts of food are provided by the hospital kitchens, a number of patients have insufficient energy and protein intake. We examined whether changing the evening meal catering system from prefixed servings to a system in which the patients to some extent can decide what they want to eat, increases energy and protein intake and reduces waste. Materials and methods: A total of 700 patients were served the evening meal according to the two systems. The amount of food served, eaten and wasted was registered individually, and the energy and protein intake per patient per meal was calculated. Results: The quartile of patients with the lowest energy intake consumed, under the prefixed serving system, 128 kJ/patient (79-178 kJ/patient, 95% confidence interval) and under the individual choice system 560 kJ/patient (489-631 kJ/patient). The quartile of patients with the highest energy intake consumed, under the prefixed serving system, 3016 kJ/patient (2918-3113 kJ/patient) and under the individual choice system 2770 kJ/patient (2671-2868 kJ/patient). Under the prefixed serving system, the wastage was 376 g/patient and under the individual choice system, 118 g/patient. Discussion: Reorganisation of a hospital catering system from a system with prefixed evening meal to a system allowing the patients to choose their own meals individually raises the energy density of the meals, increases energy intake in patients with very low energy intake and reduces waste.

MeSH