The effectiveness of protected mealtimes in hospital remains unclear

Commentary-áon: Porter J, Haines TP, Truby H. The efficacy of protected mealtimes in hospitalised patients: a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial. BMC Med 2017;15:25.There remains no evidence to support that protected mealtimes improve outcomes for hospital patients, likely due to ineffective implementation.In practice, a focus on assisted mealtimes may be beneficial.Future research is warranted and should include a carefully designed implementation and evaluation approach appropriate for complex interventions.Researchers should involve patients/carers when designing trials to ensure inclusion of patient-centred outcomes.It is well established that people eat poorly while in hospital. This is often blamed on the hospital food; however, inadequate dietary intake and consequent malnutrition (affecting 25% 30% of inpatients) is much more complex than it seems. Factors limiting intake includes those related to acute illness, hospital processes and mealtime environment.