Academic Journal
Association between availability of gluten-free menu options and nutritional intake of hospital inpatients: an observational study.
| Τίτλος: | Association between availability of gluten-free menu options and nutritional intake of hospital inpatients: an observational study. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Tong T; Nutrition and Dietetics, Bond University, Queensland, Australia., Utter J; Nutrition and Dietetics, Bond University, Queensland, Australia; Dietetics and Foodservices, Mater Health, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: jutter@bond.edu.au., McCray S; Dietetics and Foodservices, Mater Health, Queensland, Australia., Yu HL; Nutrition and Dietetics, Bond University, Queensland, Australia., Brennan K; Dietetics and Foodservices, Mater Health, Queensland, Australia. |
| Πηγή: | Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) [Nutrition] 2026 Oct; Vol. 150, pp. 113306. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 27. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Observational Study |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8802712 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-1244 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 08999007 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nutrition Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Tarrytown, NY : Elsevier Science Original Publication: [Burbank, Calif. : Nutrition, c1987- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Diet, Gluten-Free*/statistics & numerical data , Diet, Gluten-Free*/methods , Inpatients*/statistics & numerical data , Food Service, Hospital*/statistics & numerical data , Menu Planning*, Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Satisfaction ; Adult ; Energy Intake ; Aged ; Australia ; Nutritional Requirements ; Dietary Proteins |
| Περίληψη: | Objectives: Gluten-free diets pose nutritional risks as they are diets of exclusion, raising concerns in settings where patients often require increased nutritional support for recovery. The objective of this study was to determine the association between expanding gluten-free menu options and improved nutritional intake among hospital inpatients. Methods: This was a retrospective, observational study comparing nutritional intake and adequacy in patients across three menu groups in a large, urban hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Participants included 229 adult inpatients allocated a gluten-free diet code between September 2024 and February 2025 across the three menu groups. The standard room service menu had the fewest number of gluten-free options, the private menu featuring fresh herbs had additional gluten-free options (mostly animal-based proteins), and the private menu featuring alternative grains had additional meals featuring naturally gluten-free grains. Patient satisfaction and menu engagement were assessed in the cohort ordering from the private menu featuring alternative grains. Main outcome measures included nutritional intake and adequacy (percentage of requirements) for energy, protein, saturated fat, and fiber and macronutrient distribution. Secondary outcomes included patient satisfaction and menu engagement. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to assess differences in nutritional intake across the menu groups. Results: Gluten-free patients ordering from the private menu featuring fresh herbs met their energy requirements (99%) and exceeded their protein needs (120%) compared with the standard room service menu (83% and 84%, respectively; P ≤ 0.05 for both). By adding additional naturally gluten-free grain options to the enhanced private menu, patient energy and protein requirements were adequate (94% and 106%, respectively). Patient satisfaction and menu engagement were high for the private menu featuring alternative grains group, with more than 90% rating the food service as "good" and half ordering a meal featuring an alternative grain. Conclusions: Increasing options for gluten-free meals, through grain-free or alternative grains, may be effective strategies for improving the nutritional intake of patients in hospital. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Gluten-free; Hospital; Menu; Nutritional intake; Protein |
| Substance Nomenclature: | 0 (Dietary Proteins) |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260622 Date Completed: 20260805 Latest Revision: 20260827 |
| Update Code: | 20260828 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nut.2026.113306 |
| PMID: | 42330751 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-1244 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nut.2026.113306 |