Publication Date

1966

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Kilpatrick, Julia||Schuck, Cecilia, 1898-

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Home Economics

LCSH

Diet

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether hospital patients who choose their day’s food intake by means of selective menus, tend to select a balanced diet as recommended by the Daily Food Guide. It was hypothesized that the majority of patients in the hospital referred to in this study, using the selective menu would tend to choose a balanced diet as measured by the Daily Feed Guide. The study was limited to one hundred patients at Silver Cross Hospital, Joliet, Illinois. There ware three major limitations involved in the selection of the patients used in this study. They are aa follows: (1) The number of patients on a regular or soft diet; (2) the patients' prognosis and nature of illness; and (3) the need for patients to be in the hospital for three consecutive days in which they received three consecutive meals. Those, who for various reasons failed to complete the series of meals during the sampling conducted on two occasions, were eliminated from the study. Following a preliminary interview which revealed several pertinent facts such as age, sex, physical condition, and availability of the patient for the study, a Patient Reaction Questionnaire was designed to obtain responses that reflected the patients' general attitudes and opinions of the hospital selective menu system and the preparation services. The selective menus were collected after the patients indicated their menu food items and the patients' choices were checked with the Daily Food Guide requirements. The Food Selective Score Card devised by Marie Krouse and modified by the investigator was the device used for measuring the balance of the patients' food item choices. An analysis of the data compiled indicated that although a significant percentage of favorable reactions were revealed by the reaction questionnaire, the mean score of diets chosen by the patients indicated that the majority of patients failed to select a balanced diet. A balanced diet was the one recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture publication The Daily Food Guide and scoring was done according to a Food Selective Score Card. From the findings of this study, the recommendation is made to the hospital dietetics staff that they give each patient some guidance in the menu selection. This might be done through inclusion of a copy of the Daily Food Guide with the menus.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

2, v, 44 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

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Text

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