Re:hospital food (I'm getting a bit OT here)

October 29, 2007

Fortunately for me, except for kidney stone

emergency room visits, I have not been in

a hospital for many years for a time sufficient

to actually eat a meal there.

I think the hospital should offer healthy

alternatives. However I also agree with you,

if the alternatives are available in the cafeteria

it is the parents' job to get the child to

eat whatever is correct. Let me state that

I don't have kids but this is the tact my

parents took also. It was up to them.

I do have one comment on giving kids McDonalds

in a hospital. If the parents have all along

been feeding their kids McDonalds (which probably

is not the best choice but . . . .) and the kid

is sick or recovering and the McDonalds meal

is not going to physically set back their recovery

and the kid loves McDonalds and is comfortable

with McDonalds, might it be okay to feed the kids

McDonalds to make them feel better once or twice?

I'm not advocating feeding kids McDonalds but

I've never liked being in a hospital and maybe

a little comfort food isn't such a bad thing.

I don't know. (Of course, my brain has a bit

of difficulty with that since, there's also the

line of thought of, gee if opiates make you feel

a little bit better might it not be such a bad

thing . . .)(Of course when I'm in the hospital

for kidney stones I urge them most vocally to

please, please give me opiates.)

Finally a note on hospitals in general. I'm

most concerned with this problem with staph

that is resistant to anti biotics and that

it seems to be very common for people to pick

it up in hospitals or even schools, basically

places where there are a lot of people, particularly

a lot of sick people (startling, huh?). And

now I even see animals going to vets are starting

to pick up this staph strain. Well, I suppose

if all the honey bees disappear and our food

stocks get drastically reduced and all the oil

and gas is used up and we haven't had the foresight

to develop/start using alternative fuel sources,

who cares . . . ;<)

Gary

--- BARBARA KIPPER <Kipper38 wrote:

> Hi friends,

> I haven't had any bad experiences with hospital

> cafeterias, because they usually have a lot of

> choices. The meals in my room were not swell, but

> then again I was recovering [and drugged] from a hip

> replacement. :>(

> As far as McDonald's or other places that cater to

> children:

> The parents MUST be there for the kids. No

> commercial establishment of any type is responsible

> for making family choices. I believe most " fast

> food " places are making an effort to do better. It

> is due to pressure from family/parents who want

> healthy choices for their kids.

> As a parent and grandparent and great grandma [!] I

> think it is sad that we think " others " must make

> things right, so there is no need for us to teach

> the kids better nutrition.

> Responsibility really lies with the family.

> I guess I am from the old school [i was lucky].

> My dad said: " If so and so wants to put her head in

> a bucket of crud, does that mean you need to? "

> So, kids should learn alternative thinking and

> solutions.

> Lesson learned from the olden days!

> Thanks for listening.

> Barb

> Mesa, AZ

October 29, 2007

I haven't been in the hospital in a long time myself - not since before I

became a vegetarian. Needless to say, since they couldn't manage to get a

low-sodium, low-cholesterol, low-sugar diet right, I have absolutely zero

faith in them getting a vegetarian diet right! However, I'm ornery enough

that if they send me the wrong thing, I'll send it right back - I will NOT

eat anything with meat in it! (Also, it makes me nauseous now if I

accidentally get some soup with a meat based broth.)

The last time I was even visiting in a hospital was when my granddaughter

was born. My daughter wanted me there a lot during the 2 days she was there

and it only took one trip to the cafeteria to discover I was better off

stopping at McDonalds and getting a salad and their yogurt and fruit parfait

to take with me.

As far as a sick kid goes, sometimes you have to let them eat what they WILL

eat, even if it isn't necessarily the most healthy thing for them. Luckily

my granddaughter loves ALL veggies and would rather not eat meat, much to

the dismay of her parents, but she does like the occasional chicken strip

with Ranch dressing. I think you have to make some exceptions when it comes

to a kid, especially a kid who is sick and in the hospital. If they won't

touch the food served on the tray but would be happy with a Happy Meal and a

milkshake, well, I say get the Happy Meal and a milkshake. In some ways

it's not that much worse than most of our favorite comfort foods - the ooey

gooey baked macaroni and cheese that's full of all kinds of fats, or mashed

potatoes and gravy ... but sometimes that's what you need because it's the

only thing that tastes or sounds good to you.

On Behalf Of Gary Mattingly

Monday, October 29, 2007 1:10 PM

Re: Re:hospital food (I'm getting a bit OT here)