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Home > Get involved > Campaign with us >CLIC Sargent is delighted that the Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson MP has given his support to its Fit to Eat camapign. This exciting campaign wants to ensure that all children and young people with cancer have access to decent, age appropriate food when they are in hospital.
Mr Johnson has written to all NHS Trusts to highlight the importance of good food for children with cancer and to ask hospitals to take account of CLIC Sargent’s Fit to Eat guidelines.
Talking to families
Children and young people have long told CLIC Sargent that they’re not happy with hospital food. At one consultation day, some young people described the food they were served with words like: ‘toxic’; ‘disgusting’; or even ‘still frozen’.
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In July 2007 CLIC Sargent undertook a survey of hospital-based staff which revealed huge inconsistencies in the quality of hospital food available to children and young people with cancer. Alarmingly, 41% of staff surveyed reported hospital food to be ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
Secondly, we carried out a survey of families with a direct experience of childhood cancer, which found that the quality of food provided is poor and that children’s needs as they go through chemotherapy treatment remain largely unmet.
top of pageChildren with cancer
Most children and young people with cancer will experience problems with eating and drinking at some point during their illness. There can be a number of causes, including side effects of treatment or the symptoms of their cancer.
Many children will need to stay in hospital for periods of weeks or months at a time to receive and respond to treatment, having all their meals in the hospital setting. Over an extended hospital stay, the food they eat can make a significant impact on their response to treatment.
top of pageFit to Eat
CLIC Sargent wants to work with hospitals and help them to get it right – we are not seeking to criticise individual hospitals but to provide ideas and solutions to make sure food is fit to eat. We have produced detailed, practical guidelines for hospitals on providing food for children and young people with cancer.
We would also like to hear from you if you have your own experiences of hospital food: please email us to tell us what you think.
Parents can visit our information pages for help and advice with food and nutrition for your child while they are undergoing treatment for cancer.
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