Benefits of family mealtimes for nursing home residents: Protecting mealtimes may similarly benefit elderly inpatients

EDITOR-The study by Nijs et al of Dutch elderly nursing home residents showed that improving the ambience at mealtimes prevents a decline in body weight. 1 A decline in nutritional status during hospital stay may be the result not only of illness but also of problems with feeding and catering policies, such as poor environment, lack of help with eating, and interruption of meals by procedures and ward rounds. 2 Another reason is limited time available to eat each meal in the hospital. 3 In the United Kingdom protecting mealtimes is an imaginative solution to improve nutrition of hospital patients in the better hospital food programme of the Department of Health.