Nutrition Day Worldwide published the results of status of nutrition care across world hospitals.

Dubai and Oman are the only two places in the  Middle-East to take part in this project.

Survey took place across 49 countries and results highlight that DHA nutrition department covered 100 per cent of in-patient cases as compared to the worldwide average of 72 per cent.

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, August 26, 2013: Nutrition Day Worldwide, an international project which aims to improve knowledge and awareness of malnutrition, published the results of a cross-sectional audit  on the status of nutrition across hospitals in 49 countries.

The conducted was conducted in collaboration with the European Society of parenteral and enteral Nutrition ( ESPEN) and  Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Vienna . It included interviews of 98,490 patients that were conducted through questionnaires in over 30 languages.

Dubai and Oman are the only two places   in the Middle-East region to take part in this initiative.

DHA hospitals- Rashid, Latifa and Dubai were part of the  nutritional audit that was conducted across 3215 worldwide hospital wards. From Dubai, 416  patients across 16 units of DHA hospitals took part in this survey.

The results of the study pointed out to excellent levels of nutritional care received by patients in DHA hospitals.  The results highlighted that the clinical nutritional department at the DHA covered  94 per cent of all in-patient admissions as compared to the worldwide average of 70 per cent. Moreover, the nutrition department covered 100 per cent of in-patient cases as compared to 72 per cent worldwide-this means the department looked into the medical history of every in-patient during the course of their stay at the hospital and a diet plan was prescribed for them.

His Excellency Engineer Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the DHA felicitated the DHA clinical nutrition department team and presented them with a certificate of appreciation.

Al Maidoor said: “In line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, to ensure a fit and healthy society in Dubai, we at the DHA paid significant emphasis to the development and management of clinical nutrition.

“It is a known fact that nutrition and exercise are important pillars for good health. However, within a hospital setting, the importance of nutrition gets further elevated. A prescribed diet is critically important to ensure the well-being of a patient and is one of the factors that can lead to speedier recovery of patients and thus reduced hospital stay. Our goal is that even after the patient is dismissed, the patient and family members are aware of the nutritional plan that needs to be followed. At the end of the day,  healthy eating cannot be a short-term goal, it has to be a lifelong practise and that's the message we give our patients and the community.”

Wafa Ayesh, director of clinical nutrition at the DHA highlighted that diets are tailor-made for all in-patient hospital stays keeping in mind their health condition. She said the department chalks out individualized diet plans for people who suffer from various ailments including  diabetes, stroke, respiratory problems, cardiac problems, cancer, liver, obesity, trauma cases etc. “ As we are dealing with people who are suffering from ailments, in many cases we find that there is a high prevalence of weight loss and reduced intake of nutrition before admission in our hospitalized patients, so we have to take special care about their nutritional status to prevent further weight loss and improve health- this we find is normally the case in people with chronic diseases.”

She added that patient education plays a big role to ensure they sustain good nutritional habits after they are discharged.

Ayesh highlighted the results of the study, as follows:
Overall results on clear written procedures showed that DHA hospitals had a higher percentage of written procedures as compared to the worldwide average.
Fourty-nine percent of all in-patients in DHA hospitals consume a special diet provided by the hospital while internationally 24 per cent consume special diets provided by the hospital.

Fifty-two per cent of  in-patients in DHA hospitals consume food provided by the hospital while internationally 42 per cent consume food provided by hospitals

Only two per cent of patients have  quarter of the meal and leave it, while internationally 12 per cent have only quarter of the meal provided to them

5.7 per cent of  in-patients have Body Mass Index(BMI) less than 20, is an indication of malnutrition, whereas abroad this figure is 13.6 per cent.

Sixty-five per cent of  patients in DHA hospitals consume regular food while 38 per cent are provided a specific diet. Abroad 25 per cent are on a prescribed diet.