Eco-efficiency and demand of enteral diets used in patients of a Brazilian public hospital before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Virgílio José Strasburg (), Lauren Yurgel Silva, Denise Eberhardt, Bruno Jonatan Sousa, Alexandre André Feil and Renata Puppin Zandonadi
Additional contact information
Virgílio José Strasburg: Cesan, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Lauren Yurgel Silva: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Denise Eberhardt: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Nutrition and Dietetics Service
Bruno Jonatan Sousa: Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
Alexandre André Feil: University of Vale do Taquari – Univates
Renata Puppin Zandonadi: University of Brasília (UnB), Campus Universitário Darci Ribeiro

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2025, vol. 27, issue 4, No 24, 8893-8907

Abstract: Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the Eco-efficiency (EE) and demand for enteral diets used in adult (EDA) patients of a Brazilian public hospital before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection occurred in two moments: (1) from April 2019 up to March 2020; (2) from April 2020 to March 2021. Data on food EDA composition was obtained from labels. For the EE calculations, the variables considered were total consumption, energy and financial values of EDA, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, also considering their origin (manufacturing place). The statistical analysis consisted of total values, averages, and Pearson's Correlation test application. Eight of the 17 types of EDA used in the hospital during the pandemic period represented 95.4% of the total consumption during the investigation. The eight EDA nutritional values in both periods ranged from 1.000 to 2.400 kcal. The distance in kilometers (km), considering the distance from the origin of the EDA to the destination, ranged from 1.137 to 11.751 km. More than 60% (n = 5) of the EDA is produced in Brazil. Considering EDA energy value, one single item from Germany (HPxF) represented 63.27% of the total energy of all items. Regarding EE, the worst results associated with GHG generation were from imported products, while in the financial aspect, a Brazilian product had the worst result. Environmental impacts also occur in the provision of health services, and this study proved it with the application of the EE of EDAs used during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Diet therapy; Environmental impacts; Food services; Greenhouse gas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-04259-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s10668-023-04259-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-04259-w

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().