Why Patients Discard Their Food? A Qualitative Study in Iranian Hospitals

Food waste reflects inadequate food intake and is of economic and environmental importance. Therefore, understanding the underlying factors is a must to combat food waste.

A qualitative study was conducted using semi‑structured interviews with managers, nurses, nutritionists, food providers, kitchen staff, and inpatients at three hospitals in Tehran. Responses were recorded, coded, and analyzed thematically.

Forty‑eight face‑to‑face interviews led to three core categories: 1. opinions/performance; 2. causes, related factors, and characteristics; and 3. rooting and suggestions. We found that the majority of the hospitalized patients did not consume their entire food. In spite of overall satisfaction with the quantity and quality of food, anorexia, personal taste, and poor quality of raw materials prohibited patients from eating. Also, rice was the most discarded food. Economic barriers were the most important hindrance to elevate the quality, and some strategies, like the supply of high‑quality materials and recruiting skillful cooking team, were proposed to improve it.

Our findings delineated a limited budget as the main barrier to improve the quality. Nevertheless, the low quality of hospital foods may actually impose a heavier economic burden due to food waste.