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Browsing by Subject "ravitsemuslaatu"

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  • Ruuan ravitsemuslaatu henkilöstöravintolassa 
    Jalavisto, Martta (2020)
    Background: Foodservices have a significant role in the Finnish food culture. For many Finnish people the food produced by the mass catering industry is the only hot meal for the day. Foodservices are present throughout the life from kindergarten children to the elderly people at nursing homes. But working career is the longest singular time period in life in which foodservices are present. Every day over one third of Finnish employees choose to have their lunch at a staff canteen. The role of worksite eating in sustaining public health is important. The food served at staff canteens should be healthy, diverse and nutritionally well composed. Nutrition quality is a term that describes how well the nutrition guidelines are met in the meals served by foodservices. Aim: The aim of the research was to assess the nutrition quality of the meals served by staff canteens and eaten by the employees. Data and methods: The data of the research consisted of menus for two weeks by a foodservice company`s three restaurants, photos of employees’ meals (n=350) and questionnaires, observations at the staff canteens and the self-evaluations made by the restaurant managers. The evaluation of nutritional quality of the served meals was based on two nutrition quality criteria: Heart Symbol and Arkilounaskriteerit. Arkilounaskriteerit is a questionnaire filled by the restaurant manager. Arkilounaskriteerit is a tool that answers the question whether or not the diner has a chance to eat according to national food recommendations at the staff canteen. The criteria of the Heart Symbol are more specific than Arkilounaskriteerit with regards to the nutrition quality of the meal. The Heart Symbol criteria includes the nutrient level of the meal, it has criteria for the amounts of fat and saturated fat but also for the amounts of salt and nutrition fiber. On the basis of the photos of the employees’ meals and questionnaires I assessed how the Heart Symbol criteria were met and to what extent it was composed by a plate model. Using the plate model I assessed from the meals the proportions of vegetables, sources of protein and carbohydrates, and also what kind of a drink and how many glasses they had, did they have salad dressing, bread, bread spread or a dessert. Both Arkilounaskriteerit and Heart Symbol criteria include a statement that they must inform customers about the healthier food choices. This information criteria were assessed at the staff canteens. Results: The four fields of Arkilounaskriteerit were fulfilled “well” or “moderately”. The menus had a combined number of 224 food items (155 sources of proteins, 46 sources of carbohydrates and 26 other side dishes), of which 45 items (20 %) were marked with a Heart Symbol. After analysing the food items it was discovered that the criteria of the Heart Symbol were fulfilled by 74 food items (33 %). The Heart Symbol criteria were met by 31 % of the sources of protein, 37 % of the sources of carbohydrate and by 9 % of other side dishes. In those cases where the Heart Symbol criteria were not met the reason was most commonly in the amount of salt (over 40 % had salt above the criteria limit). In 10 % of the employees’ meals there were vegetables, sources of protein and carbohydrates according to the plate model. The meals were composed almost by the plate model. On average plates had 30 % source of protein, 20 % source of carbohydrate and 50 % vegetables. Typically the meal also contained salad dressing, one glass of water but no bread or dessert. Conclusions: Given the criteria of the Heart Symbol and the drive of the company, the nutrition quality of the served food items was low in most cases. Two thirds of the food items did not meet the criteria of the Heart Symbol, even though the company informs that they have nutrition guidelines in use. To enhance the nutritional quality of the meals the diners should make only minor changes in the proportions of sources of protein and carbohydrate. According to the criteria used in this research the staff canteens should have a plate model on display (criteria of informing the client). Regardless of the criteria this was not the case. The nutrition quality of food at staff canteens should be researched on a wider spectrum to have a deeper understanding of the subject. Research should be done all over Finland in several different foodservice companies - in this way it would be possible through staff canteens to tackle the greatest challenges of the Finns’ nutrition: too much salt and too little vegetables in their diets.
  • Suomalaisten ravitsemussuositusten mukaisten aterioiden vaikutus vuorotyötä tekevien miesten vireyteen yövuorossa 
    Söder, Hanna (2019)
    Background and aims Shift work and especially night work has been linked to increased risk for several chronic diseases. In addition to increased disease risk shift work may cause problems with well-being at work and civilian life. The well-being of the shift worker is affected by several areas of life, such as sleep, nutrition, physical activity, social life and stress. The disruption of circadian rhythm is a major factor associated with problems in shift work. The disruption has an impact on body’s physiological responses and it might cause e.g. gastrointestinal and sleep problems. In the future, the meals provided by food services are more important for public health as service hours of the society will be extended and more people are attached to shift and night work. A number of research has been conducted to compare the shift and dayworkers diets. However, very little is known about the nutritional quality of the shift workers diets or about the foods that would be suitable to consume at night time. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of meals created according to the Finnish nutrition recommendations and the regular meal pattern on the well-being at night shift. The well-being was examined from the perspective of alertness, mood and experienced symptoms. Methods The intervention research was conducted as a cross-over trial. There were 19 men (aged between 23 to 61 years old (mean 43 years), BMI between 19,4 to 30,0 kg/m2 (mean 25,9 kg/m2)) participating the study which consisted of two research periods taking four 24-hour periods; the control and the intervention periods. In the two night shifts (12 hours in length) of the intervention period the participants had study meals, which covered out the whole night shift, according to two alternative meal patterns. Food intake was controlled only in the night shifts of the intervention period. Food intake and the amount of sleep was measured by food and sleep diary. The effect of food intake was measured by objective measurements of sleepiness, mood and gastrointestinal and appetite related symptoms. Statistical analyses were performed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the paired samples T-test using IBM SPSS Statistics -program. Results The nutritional quality of the night shifts diet improved at the intervention period compared to the control period. The intakes of energy (p<0,001), dietary fibre (p<0,001) and vitamin C (p<0,001) were greater, the portion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (p=0,033) from the total energy intake was higher and the portion of saturated fatty acids was lower in the intervention period than in the control period. The intake of salt (p=0,003) was greater but compared to the total energy intake there were no differences in salt intakes between research periods night shifts. No differences were observed in the proportions of protein, carbohydrate and monounsaturated fatty acids from the total energy intake or sucrose intakes. Alertness (measured by sleepiness): No differences were observed between the study periods in the sleepiness of the night shifts. Mood: No differences were observed between study periods in the night shifts moods of vigour, tension, fatigue, forgetfulness, depressive, anger, inertia and confusion. Experienced symptoms: An increased flatulence (p=0,017) was observed in the intervention period, which might be caused by the great amount of dietary fibre in the study meals. No differences were observed between research periods in the night shift symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, heartburn, lack of appetite, hunger, thoughts of food, fullness and urge to eat. Conclusion The nutritional quality of the diet improved significantly at the intervention period’s night shifts. Respectively, the nutritional composition of the study meals improved the nutritional quality of the entire intervention period compared to the control period. Meals provided by food services can improve the shift working men’s nutritional quality of the diet. In the long term there might be positive effects on health of the employee. The short intervention study did not influence alertness, mood or experienced symptoms at the night shift. In the future the effect of food on alertness and mood could be studied for longer periods. It is important to discover how changing circadian rhythm of a shift worker should be acknowledged at shift work and dining at night. In addition to subjective methods, effects of eating on shift workers well-being should be studied by objective methods, such as cognitive tests or actigraphy.

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