Stepping up to the plate: Hospitals move toward healthy eating

It's becoming increasingly easy to find healthy food at hospital cafeterias, and often, physicians are leading the way.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Jan. 2/9, 2006.

A quick lunch at the hospital cafeteria doesn't have to be a burger and fries. In fact, finding a fast-food restaurant on the premises might not be as easy as it used to be. Hospitals are trying to provide healthier food for staff as well as patients. And the reason why is clear: Physicians and nurses have not escaped the nation's collective weight gain.

For them, losing those extra pounds picked up during this season of heavy eating might not mean brown-bagging it to work. Healthy choices are often available just an elevator ride away.

For example, some selections at several Washington, D.C., hospitals can be decidedly good for you. On a recent lunchtime tour, George Washington University Hospital's cafeteria was serving lemon pepper fish (1 gram of fat and 150 calories) while a few miles away, Sibley Memorial Hospital featured beef burgundy over noodles (11 grams of fat and 410 calories).

Heart symbols at Washington Hospital Center's cafeteria mark selections approved by the American Heart Assn. And staffers at Children's National Medical Center were spotted late one Sunday morning diving into a plate of bright green broccoli and a bag of soy nuts.

Some hospital cafeterias have even succeeded in attracting people who don't have to be in or near the hospital. Such is the case with the Cleveland Clinic's Naples, Fla., campus. "When the Naples season is in full swing, it's not unusual to find folks who don't have medical appointments stopping in the hospital cafeteria to have lunch," said Victoria Agnew, the clinic's director of media relations.