Nutritional problems of invalids, the aged and infirm : report of a conference in London, 18th January, 1947 / London Council of Social Service.

Date:
[1947?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Nutritional problems of invalids, the aged and infirm : report of a conference in London, 18th January, 1947 / London Council of Social Service. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/32 page 17
    It is well known that many old persons admitted to hospitals are incapacitated only because they have been existing for months on totally inadequate diets. They have not had the energy or the facilities for cooking or the appetite for the unsuitable food some- times available to them, and they are unable to withstand the strain of shopping under present conditions. Much nonsense has been written and talked about the specific properties of certain pre-war so-called special diets, which were nearly always successful in the treatment of some hospital patients, because they were calculated and built up from sufficient amounts of the protective foods, a practice which until recently was quite the reverse in the ordinary hospital diet. Catering officers in con- valescent homes, canteens and restaurants are, therefore, shy of undertaking to provide special diets, until, the. jfood. super: visors learn, with surprise, how easy it is to prepare them from the normal daily menus. Often, the only difference between a pro- tective normal, and a special diet is in the method of presentation. Many persons with gastric disorders must necessarily go on with specially prepared diets long after they are allowed to return to work, and meals suitable for such cases can be prepared by merely serving the same food cooked for other customers in non-residue form: minced meat, sieved vegetables, the same steamed pudding without fruit, which can be served with a sauce. In the Invalid Kitchens, in many factory canteens and some British Restaurants, a meal of this kind not only serves persons with gastric disorders, but those needing a light diet for other reasons, such as those suffering with fatigue, or undergoing dental treatment. In communal feeding centres and canteens, the daily menu may be modified to suit obese cases by increasing the vegetables and providing fruit instead of sweet dishes. Modern diabetic diets more nearly approach the normal, the only difference being that sugar is eliminated and starchy foods, such as bread and potatoes, are given by household measure or weighed. Feeding Centres for Old People and Others Similarly, food for old people can be modified or prepared to suit their needs and their appetites. The very few special thera- peutic diets which have outlived the rationing conditions can be easily served in any canteen or feeding centre. i]
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