Malnutrition Awareness Week 2025

Malnutrition affects both children and adults, often going unnoticed without proper screening. Early detection through screening is vital to improve patient health. Let’s work together to raise awareness and act early to stop malnutrition.

Empower growth. Prevent malnutrition.
#MAW2025

Malnutrition among pediatric patients and its impact

Malnutrition is often underestimated and poorly documented in hospitalized children, despite its significant impact on morbidity among pediatric inpatients1.

Malnutrition is associated with significant complications including compromised clinical outcomes, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs3‌-‌8.

The significant burden malnutrition places on the patient and healthcare systems is demonstrated by recent evidence that malnourished pediatric patients experience:

  • a nearly double length of hospital stay and over 3 times higher mortality rates compared to well-nourished patients7.
  • a nearly 3 times higher chance of experiencing complications and readmission to hospital than those well-nourished8.

It is therefore generally recommended that malnutrition should be promptly identified and managed, with the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) among others calling for nutrition screening for pediatric patients admitted to hospital11.

Screening Tools

Nutritional screening tools are quick, non-invasive tools which are vital to identify and assess nutritional risk. When nutritional risk is identified, a more detailed assessment, with potential nutritional management and follow-up should come after9,10,12.

In a recent position paper ESPGHAN also confirms:

The purpose of nutritional screening is to identify individuals who are at risk for undernutrition, who need further nutritional assessment, and may likely benefit from nutritional intervention which would potentially influence outcome11.

Although various screening tools exist to evaluate nutritional risk and malnutrition in children, there is no universally accepted standard for their implementation.

Some are designed and validated for in-patient hospital settings, while others have been developed and validated in community settings or for specific medical conditions (for example the Feeding and Nutrition Screening Tool (FNST) to identify nutritional risk in children with cerebral palsy).

More information on FNST can be found at FNST - Feeding Nutrition Screening Tool.

Any validated method of nutritional screening will enhance clinicians' awareness of each child's nutritional status12.

The table below offers a summary of the available screening tools, including an analysis of their main components and intended purposes11-21.

Screening Tools

Nutritional screening tools are quick, non-invasive tools which are vital to identify and assess nutritional risk. When nutritional risk is identified, a more detailed assessment, with potential nutritional management and follow-up should come after9,10,12.

Table adapted from11. NRS: Nutrition Risk Score; PNRS: Pediatric Nutritional Risk Score; STAMP: Screening Tool for the Assessment of Malnutrition and Growth; PYMS: Paediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score; STRONGkids: Screening Tool for Risk on Nutritional Status and Growth; PeDiSMART: Pediatric Digital Scaled Malnutrition Risk Screening Tool; PNST: Pediatric Nutrition Screening Tool; PNSS: Pediatric Nutrition Screening Score.

In 2022, the ESPGHAN SIG in Clinical Malnutrition published a position paper on nutritional screening in pediatric patients advocating for the regular use of nutritional screening tools for a diverse group of hospitalized children upon their admission. Whilst they remain impartial regarding the selection of a specific screening tool, they highlight the following:

     -  The choice of screening tool should be guided by the context, population, and available resources

     -  Clear recommendations for childcare facilities (written policy & protocol) should be in place for the identification of children with (or at risk of) malnutrition, including nutritional screening, and criteria for further assessment and follow-up

More Information

ACADEMY³: Free, Independent CME-Accredited E-Learning Courses

Advance your clinical expertise with three practical, evidence-based courses designed to support healthcare professionals in confidently assessing and managing pediatric malnutrition, while earning up to 4 European CME credits (ECMEC®).

Accreditation & Endorsement:
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Endorsed by ASPEN (American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition)

Infant Faltering Growth

Equip yourself with practical tools to recognize and manage faltering growth in infants under 2 years—focusing on nutritional care during the critical first 1,000 days of life.

Find out more

Malnutrition in Children and Adolescents – Fundamentals

Understand the foundations of pediatric undernutrition, including definitions, causes, consequences, and essential strategies for nutritional assessment and management in children and adolescents ages 2–19.

Find out more

Malnutrition in Children and Adolescents – Advanced Masterclass

Deepen your expertise with a comprehensive review of pediatric undernutrition—focusing on anthropometry, growth assessment, and the clinical management of undernutrition in children and adolescents aged 2–19 years.

Find out more

Caleb's story

6 months, congenital heart disease, USA

We finally found something Caleb loved and his weight took off to where we needed it.

Regular nutritional screening and growth monitoring are important to ensure children are identified early and receive the right nutritional support to help them grow and develop22,23. Nutricia partners with healthcare professionals and other experts to help manage children with a wide range of medical conditions, to ensure they grow and develop as well as possible. Our aim is to improve long-term health outcomes by offering a wide range and variety of medical nutrition products, including oral or tube feeding options, as well as tubes/pumps.

Have a look at our portfolio and discover Nutricia’s Fortini products

Fortini range is food for special medical purposes for the dietary management of disease related malnutrition and must be used under medical supervision.

Discover Fortini

Nutricia, your trusted partner for over 100 years.

Learn more about Faltering Growth on Nutricia Academy

Access free educational content collated by our team of experts and find the latest clinical resources, global & regional guidelines and medical references on faltering growth.

Faltering Growth in Infants & Children

Faltering growth is the failure of children to achieve adequate growth at a normal rate for their age. This is as a result of an insufficient intake of nutrients / absorption of nutrients in relation to their requirements. This may be due to an underlying medical condition or other social or environmental factors. Chronic undernutrition is associated with reduced cognitive development, longer term effects on growth trajectory and development later in life. There is also a link between undernutrition and immunity. 

Infants and children with or at risk of faltering growth may require nutritional support measures to ensure they are able to meet their requirements for catch-up growth and normal growth and development. Learn more about the assessment and management of faltering growth below.

Find out more

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Important Notice

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