"With heart disease still the number one killer of Americans and obesity on the rise, it is imperative that hospitals set a good example by providing health-promoting, vegetarian foods to staff, patients, and visitors," says Amy Joy Lanou, Ph.D., senior nutrition scientist. "Hospital fare with a focus on vegetables, beans, and whole grains could help keep visitors and medical staff from becoming patients themselves." Numerous studies published in peer-reviewed journals show that a low-fat vegetarian diet can lower cholesterol, improve insulin sensitivity, reverse heart disease, halt progression of prostate cancer, and provide many other benefits.
In partnership with ADinfinitum, Inc., and Spirit of Women hospital network, PCRM staff created the Healthy Hospital Food Initiative Questionnaire and distributed it to 40 hospitals or hospital systems nationwide. The hospitals surveyed were medium to large community hospitals with 100 beds or more and academic medical centers with at least 500 beds. Data collection occurred between December 1, 2004 and January 31, 2005.
For a copy of the full report, or an interview with a nutrition scientist, please contact Jeanne S. McVey at 202-686-2210, ext. 316, or jeannem@pcrm.org .
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.