Why Children's Hospitals Sell Junk Food

Here’s a sure entry into “What The [bleep] Were They Thinking?” A study published in December by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that nearly a third of pediatric teaching hospitals have fast-food restaurants onsite.

Teaching hospitals are epicenters of excellence, where the best and brightest pediatricians give the best and brightest care, from heart transplants to experimental cancer therapy. So what are they doing peddling fast food—public health enemy #1-- to (sick) kids?

One hospital spokesperson said the goal was to give kids a treat after a difficult visit. Isn’t that like giving a cigarette to a smoker who just had surgery to remove a tumor from his lung?

Here’s a more plausible theory: A great many children’s hospitals care for underserved, uninsured populations that can’t afford to pay for their care. Meanwhile, doctors and medical centers are increasingly paid less to do more by both the federal government and private insurers. This leaves them dependent on money from donors, research grants and inadequate government support. Those sources just don’t pay the rent.

So what to do? They go looking for money, and fast-food chains have plenty. Since fast food is popular with kids, they’re a sure money maker. Another study, published earlier this year, supports this notion. Its survey of children’s hospitals in North America found that about 80 percent received profits from fast-food restaurants operated onsite.

So, just like the public school system, children’s hospitals are doing what’s necessary in order to make ends meet.

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