Light General Diet (Easily Digestible Diet) - Relevance and Adaptation Precision Among Professionals in Charge of Hospital Catering and of Dietetic Training in Germany and Austria

Background Light General Diet (Easily Digestible Diet) has prevailed with very few changes in German-speaking countries since 1978. The main principle is to avoid foods that have been proven to cause symptoms of indigestion and abdominal discomfort to more than 5% of the population. The diet is mostly based on the studies of Rottka et al from 1978. The main purpose of this study was to determine the relevance and precision of adaptation among professionals in charge of hospital catering and of dietetic training in Germany and Austria. Materials and methods Online-survey with 173 professionals in charge of hospital catering and 29 professionals responsible of dietetic training in Germany and Austria. Results More than 75% of professionals in charge of hospital catering considered the specifications to be well translatable into daily practice, in contrast to less than 50% of professionals responsible of dietetic training in Germany and Austria. Both groups of professionals (61% of professionals in charge of hospital catering and 96% of professionals responsible of dietetic training) thought that these specifications need to be revised. Only 42% and 33% claimed adherence to these specifications. One third of professionals in charge of hospital catering and 89% of professionals responsible of dietetic training regard the specifications as too vague to establish guidelines for hospital catering. In fact, vague terminology was the most frequently cited critique and professional specified many terms such as "fatty foods", "sweet and fatty baked goods" "potato salad" and "sweets". Nevertheless, 90% of the survey participants said they would support more concrete practice recommendations. Conclusion Light General Diet (Easily Digestible Diet) seems to work in practice and is widely accepted particularly among professionals in charge of hospital catering. Nevertheless, vague recommendations need to be more carefully worded to prevent ambiguity and the specifications should be revised accordingly.