The Total Amount of Energy Delivered by A Brazilian Hospital Catering does not Meet Patient Requirements as Measured by Indirect Calorimetry

Abstract

The literature is controversial regarding the dietary recommendations for hospitalized patients in Brazil. Objective: We aimed to determine whether the energy content of the diet for hospitalized patients met their energy requirements measured by indirect calorimetry. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted on adult hospitalized patients of both sexes. The prescription food was checked by reading the charts. Nutritional status was evaluated on the basis of weight, abdominal circumference (AbC), arm circumference (AC), body mass index and waist/hip ratio (WHR). The resting energy requirements of the patients were determined by indirect calorimetry. The diets offered were collected on 3 random non-consecutive days. Total nitrogen, lipid, water, ash and carbohydrate content of the menus were determined. Patients receiving a general or low-sodium diet by the oral route participated in the study. The Student T test was used to analyze the differences in energy expenditure between individuals. The association between gender and percent adequacy of the diet was calculated by the Fisher exact test. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: We studied 46 adult patients of both genders (29 women and 17 men) aged 45 ± 16 years. Anthropometric evaluation re-vealed a mean weight of 72 ± 26 kg, BMI of 28 ± 10 kg/m². 78% of the patients received energy above their require-ments, with this value increasing to 82% when obese patients were excluded. Conclusion: Since the hospital diet is an important and often vital resource for the recovery of patients and in view of the high prevalence of undernutrition or obesity, it is fundamental to adjust it to the intra-hospital reality.