Nearly 50% of hospital food courts have fast food restaurants, which is unhealthy

In order to facilitate patients and their families, many hospitals rent out space to turn it into food courts and shopping malls. However, the Consumer Foundation released a survey report today, the 25th, and found that nearly 50% of hospital food courts have fast food restaurants. Patients and the general public chow down on high-calorie burgers, which easily increases the risk of obesity and goes against the principle that hospitals should promote health.

The Consumers' Foundation pointed out that the sale of high-calorie fast food such as hamburgers in the hospital food court is contrary to the principles of health.

According to data from the National Health Bureau of the Department of Health, the proportion of overweight or obese adults in the country is as high as 44.1%. Among the top 10 causes of death in the country, 7 are related to obesity, such as malignant tumors, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes.

The average daily calorie requirement for men is 2150 to 2400 calories, and for women it is 1700 to 1900 calories. However, a single meal at a fast food restaurant often contains more than 1000 calories, which is almost half of the daily requirement.

However, the Consumer Foundation's survey on hospital food courts found that nearly 50% of hospital food courts have fast food restaurants that sell high-fat, high-calorie foods. Long-term or large-scale consumption can easily cause obesity and have a negative impact on physical health.

The Consumers' Foundation stated that although the Department of Health has not prohibited medical institutions from providing peripheral services such as catering or restricting the content of catering, major hospitals should consider whether the food they provide has a negative impact on health when recruiting investors. At the very least, they should require operators to indicate the calorie count on site for the public's reference.

In addition, in order to prevent the spread of germs in crowded hospital food courts and prevent them from becoming a breeding ground for infection, the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, has stipulated in the "Hospital Evaluation Standards" that dining or shopping areas within hospitals must not only comply with health regulations, but also have management restrictions and clothing requirements for hospital employees entering.

However, the Consumer Foundation's survey report found that about 61.5% of hospitals have prohibitory signs at the entrance of the food court saying "No patients allowed", but due to the lack of management and persuasion, patients roam around, which may invisibly increase the chance of spreading germs.