Nutrition and Diet Management Project

There are few nutrition experts in Cambodia where child malnutrition rate is high among Asian countries. Nutrition is not taught systematically at educational institutions including medical schools. Therefore, even doctors’ understanding on the importance of hospital meals in terms of patient treatment is low.

At National Pediatric Hospital(NPH) we have been assisting through Pediatric Surgery Project, until 2006, simple and insufficient meals have been served twice a day, which were rice and soup at 10:00AM and rice only at 3:00PM. In addition, when meals were served, parents/caretakers of patients had to fetch meals at kitchen, but meals were sufficient only for 30-40% of the total patient number, and many had to go outside to buy meals. These situations were the same at the other national and public hospitals.

Hospital diet is a common practice and regarded as a part of medical treatment in other countries including Japan. It is necessary to make it a common practice in Cambodia, too.