Alison Mills. Lisa Magill and Stephanie Allen look at what children eat when they go into hospital and how it varies to their diet at home

While undertaking our paediatric clinical placement in an orthopaedic ward in a Belfast 'hospital, we noticed that most children had their lockers packed with crisps,sweets and chocolate and, that they seemed to eat these all day long. Following this observation, we decided to carry out an investigation to determine if children's diet varies when they come into hospital, and to decide if any changes would be necessary. In addition, we investigated parents’ opinions on their children’s diet.