Evaluation of the Food Waste Volume in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) of Akbar Hospital in Mashhad, Iran

Introduction: Understanding food waste is essential to reduce environmental impact and financial burden and ensuring food security in hospital settings. Research on hospital food waste in Iran, especially in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs), has been limited despite the importance of reducing food waste. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the amount of food waste in the Akbar Children’s Hospital PICUs department. The findings of these studies can provide evidence to improve food management in hospital settings. Method: The rate of food waste among patients admitted to the Akbar Hospital’s PICUs was measured in this cross-sectional study. Food waste was measured by calculating the difference between the total food delivered to the patient and the total food they consumed. Patients or their parents provided information about the proportion of hospital food intake within the past 24 hours. Result: Of the 140 patients in the initial sample, 21 received hospital food during the study. The average food waste for the one-week study period was 53.57%, indicating that 90.5% of patients caused varying degrees of food waste, with only 9.5% consuming the entire amount of hospital food they received. No significant association was found between patients’ age or gender and food waste. Conclusion: The results suggested a significant amount of food waste in the hospital setting that needs to be addressed to improve patient nutrition and reduce costs.