Food intake of a typical Brazilian diet among hospitalized malnourished patients

Aim: To verify whether malnourished inpatients receiving a typical Brazilian diet meet their food requirements. Methods: Thirty-five consecutive surgical and medical hospitalized adults, able to feed themselves, received rice and beans based diets for 3 consecutive days. All served food was weighed before and after the meals. Nutrient intake was determined and results compared to American Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). Malnutrition was defined by the presence of at least one of these criteria: body mass index 18.5 kg/m2; height-creatinine index 70%; or albumin level 3.5 g/dl. Results: Malnourished and non-malnourished patients were paired in relation to age, gender, diagnoses and clinical parameters. Despite showing distinct anthropometric parameters and laboratory data, malnourished patients ingested enough quantities of food and met or exceeded RDA for energy and other nutrients. Conclusions: Clinically-stable malnourished inpatients, supplied with rice- and beans based diets have adequate energy and nutrient intake, the same occurring for non-malnourished ones.