Why eating with our eyes means a little care could save NHS millions
Survey shows benefits of better looking meals
IT is often said that we eat with our eyes first, so the better a meal looks, the more likely it is to be devoured.
Perhaps someone should have told the kitchens in Scotland’s hospitals, which have come under criticism from patients for serving up ‘mush’.
Now new research shows that the way hospital food looks is so important, it can even cut the risk of someone being readmitted after falling ill again.
That is likely to be because, at a time when people desperately need to build themselves back up, the study reveals almost one in five will eat more food which is well-presented.
The findings could save the NHS millions of pounds, as they show patients given aesthetically pleasing meals are two-thirds less likely to end up back in hospital, slashing the bill for revolvingdoor illnesses, which are notorious for draining health service budgets.
It adds extra weight to the Scottish Daily Mail’s long-running campaign to improve the standard of hospital food.
The Scottish Government was forced to overhaul meals served up in wards, after patients came forward with pictures including lukewarm pasta in fluorescent sauce and unrecognisable brown slop.
Hospital meals made hundreds of miles away in England and Northern Ireland are reheated for consumption in Scotland, with many refusing to eat them.
Robert Brown, of the nutrition think tank the McCarrison Society, said: ‘Hospital patients, more than anyone else, require proper nutrition because their health is in a compromised state. So every effort should be made to ensure that the food they receive is palatable and appetising.’
Chris Stewart, head chef at the Edinburgh School of Food and Wine, said: ‘This proves the old saying that people eat with their eyes first.
‘Food doesn’t have to look Michelinstarred but it should be clear that time and effort has been spent on preparing it.
‘If it looks like it’s been thrown or dropped on a plate, people will wonder how much care has been taken in cooking it properly. Even subconsciously, the brain will be telling you to be wary of it.’
In the ground-breaking study, Israeli health chiefs linked up with the Paul Bocuse Institute culinary college in Lyon, France. Tutors there recreated hospital meals and then provided training in how they should be properly presented.
Over six weeks, 206 inpatients were served meals from the same menu, but 105 were given food that had been imaginatively arranged, while the rest were presented with the usual fare.
Of the patients, whose illnesses were roughly matched according to severity, those served the new meals ate 77 per cent of the food they were given. This compared with 58 per cent for those given the usual food, of whom a third enjoyed their meals compared to a half of those eating well-prepared meals.
The new regime didn’t lead to shorter hospital stays. However, there was a dramatic cut in the readmission rate. Across the group, the proportion which had returned as inpatients within a month dropped from 31 per cent to 13 per cent.
The study by Tel Aviv and Vienna Universities, published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, states: ‘The results have shown that the improvement of meal presentation using culinary expertise at a hospital setting, without any extra financial investment, influenced the participants’ visual perception towards the dish that was served. [This provoked] a significant increase in food intake, leading to a substantial waste food reduction and readmission rate to hospital in the following 30 days.’
Mr Stewart said the findings could be used in Scotland, adding: ‘It would just take someone in management to have the farsightedness to hire kitchen staff who care, someone who understands that by devoting a little more time in the preparation of food, there can be enormous financial savings further down the line.
‘And, of course, the bottom line is that – as this study has shown – it makes people healthier and that’s what the NHS is there to do.’
Scottish Government advice was updated earlier this year to recommend that health chiefs consider presentation as ‘extremely important’. A spokesman said: ‘This is already well accepted and emphasised in our guidance to ensure all patients get the best possible nourishment while they are in hospitals.
‘These guidelines also include advice on menu planning and practical suggestions on food choices for different dietary needs.
‘We recently consulted on whether these guidelines should be placed on a statutory footing.’