Are Hospitals promoting Health?

I put this post up on facebook from work the other night when I discovered that the food that I had brought to be my evening snack was bad.  It was simple-  "I'm in trouble, I'm at work, I'm hungry and my hummus is bad.  What will I eat?".  This was after spending 2 hours at the gym earlier in the day which always leaves me somewhat hyperphagic and after recommitting to my healthy eating habits.  So, there I sat HUNGRY with just plain celery to eat.   As I munched away on my celery I pondered my possibilities to get something solid to eat and got some hilarious comments from my friends.  The sad reality is that at 8 pmon a weeknight while stuck in the hospital, my options are limited. There is a  McDonalds in the hospital open 24 hours, but I won't eat there. The cafeteria has almost nothing by processed overly salted food I wont' eat and if it were a weekend it wouldn't even be open at all.  I found an old banana in my desk drawer and some trail mix.  

So there you have it my options were McDonalds v. processed cafeteria food v. old food leftovers in my desk drawer.  Fortunately, the food in my drawer wasn't bad so I ate that. However, it really is a sad commentary that at an institution that is supposed to be promoting health there is nothing healthy to eat.  In an era when childhood obesity is an evergrowing problem, The only place to buy food from at on certain hours and on the weekends at a large freestanding Childrens Hospital is McDonalds.  Is the hospital really promoting health?  And it is not unique to this hospital. I have worked at several children's hospitals in the country and most of them have a McDonalds because of the link to Ronald McDonald houses, and most of them primarily serve unhealthy, fried food in the cafeteria.  As leaders in pediatric healthcare shouldn't we be promoting healthy lifestyles? I don't get it.  As I lay in my bed hungry that night this thought plagued me.  

Tonight when I came to work I packed plenty of healthy food and made sure it was all still good.