Protein-calorie Intakes of Hospital Patients.

Food in Hospitals, a report published by the Nuffield Provincial Hospital Trust, described the results of a study of the nutritive value of food in a survey of 152 provincial non-teaching hospitals. The hospitals were selected at random, and in each hospital the food taken by one patient on a full normal diet, also selected at random, was measured over a period of 24 h. The methods of sampling are fully described in the published report (Platt, Eddy & Pellett, 1963). Much of the work done upon the protein quality of the food taken by patients in hospital was considered to be too technical for inclusion in the original report, though some of the conclusions and recommendations in the report were based upon the detailed evaluation of protein-calorie intakes. The methods used and the results obtained are now described in this paper.