Food service programme for promoting healthy nutrition among medical cadets of Phramongkutklao College of Medicine: a preliminary study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the patterns of food services and to determine the kinds and frequencies of food items served to the medical cadets.


METHODS
Menu records of the meals served to the medical cadets at a mess hall of Phramongkutklao College of Medicine were retrospectively reviewed, covering the period of one month of the academic year 2004. The menus were analysed using descriptive statistics.


RESULTS
Sixty-five medical cadets participated in the food service programme by setting their own menus. The programme provided three main meals a day. In August, the studied month, it was found that some selected menus were not suitable. Only two types of foods of carbohydrate sources were used. The predominant one was milled rice (87 meals or 93.5%). At least 5 meals (5.4%) did not serve vegetables at all. As for fresh fruits, up to 16 days (51.6%) they were not served.


CONCLUSIONS
The food service programme is a strength point for promoting healthy nutrition to medical cadets in this setting. Involvement of medical cadets by setting up their own menus can reflect very clearly undesirable eating habits. Thus, appropriate involvement of medical cadets can be a good means to help them acquire knowledge and skills in healthy nutrition practices.
Viravathana
Nantaporn
N
Department of Biochemistry, Phramongkutklao College of Medicine, Bangkok, Thailand. ntpornvv@pmk.ac.th
D005522:Food Services; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013785:Thailand