Family‐Style Dining on a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit: A Quality Improvement Project to Reduce Weight Changes in Patients

BACKGROUND: Improving nutritional standards for children has become a national health initiative. However, children who are hospitalized are often at additional risk for poor nutrition and diet. Following a change to family-style dining, nursing staff noted significant patient weight changes. We undertook a quality improvement project to address this issue and promote healthy weight maintenance. METHODS: Nursing staff requested changes to the types of foods served and placed limits on how much patients were permitted to eat. We also developed a nutrition group to educate the patients on healthy food choices. RESULTS: We were able to reduce weight changes in patients on our unit from a mean change of 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) to a mean change of 0.01 kg (0.027 lb). CONCLUSIONS: Patient education, healthy food offerings, and limiting the amount of food eaten at meals had positive outcomes on patient weights during a child and adolescent psychiatry hospitalization.