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Often when we think of malnutrition, we think of extreme examples such as starving children in developing nations or emaciated individuals in war-torn areas and World War II concentration camps. However, these extreme images are relatively rare and malnutrition is not always visible to the naked eye of health care professionals and physicians who are not trained to identify this condition. In fact, in Canada, an estimated 45% of hospitalized medical and surgical patients are identified as malnourished.[1] Hospitalized patients can become malnourished very quickly. Patients admitted to hospital often miss multiple meals during their hospital admissions due to being kept NPO for medical tests and procedures and/or due to feeling unwell with concurrent anorexia. Combined with a lack of physical activity, hospitalized patients begin to lose muscle mass at a rate of 0.5% of total body muscle mass per day[2] which can lead to significant muscle losses during periods of immobility[3] as during hospitalization.
Early nutrition intervention is key to curtailing malnutrition. Dietitians are healthcare professionals who undergo specialized training in nutrition to focus on assessing and identifying patients at risk of malnutrition, preventing malnutrition and improving nutrition status. As mentioned by Eckert and Cahill (2018),[4] an effective strategy for preventing malnutrition is to involve the dietitian early, within 24 hours of hospital admission. For patients a...
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