• Focus on nutrition and hydration throughout the week at Royal Bolton Hospital
• Speech and Language Therapists raising awareness around dysphagia
• Bolton Dietitians offers advice for staying hydrated and nourished

Nutrition and Hydration Week, 11-17 March 2024, highlights, promotes and celebrates improvements in the provision of nutrition and hydration.

Staff at Royal Bolton Hospital are using the week to make sure that staff and visitors have plenty of information and guidance as to how to stay as healthy as possible.

Throughout the week, there will be a number of demonstrations in the hospital restaurant between 8am and 4pm, covering the best advice for breakfast, snacks, afternoon tea, Thirsty Thursday and Fruity Friday.

The Speech and Language Therapist team will be raising awareness around dysphagia on Wednesday in the hospital restaurant.

The iFM Catering team will be supporting throughout the week on the hospital wards by making parcels and delivering them for patients and staff.

Amanda Wall, Principal Service Lead Adult Dietetics and Speech and Language Therapists, has shared some advice to help people stay hydrated and healthy:

• Don’t skip breakfast
• Reduce salt intake
• Limit snacks or consider snacks swaps or use the NHS food scanner app to inform of healthier alternatives
• Set a reminder on your phone to have a drink, you can add a pop of colour with chopped fruits like frozen berries, kiwi and apple to make water taste and look interesting
• Aim for five portions of fruit and vegetables per day NHS 5-a-day
• Try to have a meat free day each week
• Aim for 30 different plant foods per week – this includes fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, wholegrains, herbs and spices, and pulses and beans to improve gut health

If you would like more information, you can visit the Nutrition and Hydration Week website.