for kids

YOUNG hospital patients are being offered revamped "modern" menus with delicious new meals like . . . cottage pie, roast chicken and egg sandwiches.

Forget goats' cheese, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.

Up-to-date cuisine these days apparently means traditional English fare such as baked beans.

And the people behind the new-look menus say that's what children want.

The Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton decided to brighten up meal times and changed its menus after discussions with staff, parents and

dieticians.

It describes the new food options as more modern.

Children's dietician Morag McCarthy said the previous choices included hot-pots and casseroles, which had proved unpopular.

She said the new menu aimed to combine traditional favourites with meals like pasta and curry, which go down well with older patients.

She said modern meant different things for adults and children, and offering young patients the food they wanted could be seen as the latest in medical care.

She said: "It is interesting that things like shepherd's pie and roasts are very popular with children.

"The new menu is about giving them more of a range so they are not just choosing fish fingers and chips. Meals like lasagne and pasta are very popular with youngsters.

"Food is so important in hospital. It's very much part of the healing process."

Caterers at the Royal Alexandra usually feed between 40 and 50 patients a day.

Breakfast tends to be cereal and toast while lunch and dinner can be a choice of cooked meals or lighter options such as sandwiches.

Mrs McCarthy and her staff have to ensure children maintain their strength and weight and are not depressed by the thought of eating the same thing for each meal.

Brighton, Hove and Lewes Community Health Council, the local NHS watchdog, has started monitoring hospital food for its nutritional value and popularity.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.