État des lieux en 2008 des Comités de liaison alimentation nutrition (CLAN) et des unités transversales de nutrition clinique (UTNC) : enquête nationale

A Liaison Commitee for Alimentation and Nutrition (LCAN) is recommended in French hospitals since 2002. When the first 2004 national survey noted that a LCAN was established in 30% of them, the 2008 survey shows a large increase up to 73%. The greater are hospitals, the more often they have a LCAN. This structure is now well established in general public and in private hospitals. Its age is about three years, with mainly a medical chairman. All the staffs concerned by food and nutrition are represented in LCAN, of which the main aims are nutritional care and catering. More frequently than in 2004, LCAN has a proceedings program and is described in the hospital reception book, but a dedicated budget remains very uncommon. The largest difficulty for creating LCAN is the too small hospital size. Some hospitals probably think that the LCAN functions can be assumed by a private food provider, and this could be a serious problem because the number of hospitals using private food concession increases. Since 2004, for the whole hospitals surveyed, the mean number of dieticians remains low (0.5 full time/hospital), education on food and nutrition increases, as well as malnutrition assessment. Only 2% of hospitals have a clinical nutrition team at disposal, but with limited material capacities and interventions.