nutritionDay 2025

Malnutrition in the focus of health

This year's "nutritionDay" worldwide, which was initiated by ESPEN (European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism) in 2003 and first held in 2006, will take place on 13.11.2025. It was triggered by the realization in European health policy that the issue of malnutrition must be given a higher priority.

The aim of "nutritionDay" is to raise awareness of malnutrition in healthcare facilities. Up to 40% of hospitalized patients are affected by disease-related malnutrition. This can lead to a longer length of stay for patients and an unfavorable long-term prognosis, which in turn increases costs for the healthcare system. The "nutritionDay" aims to increase knowledge and awareness of malnutrition in healthcare facilities and improve the overall quality of nutritional care.

Participating hospitals and nursing homes receive a questionnaire which they fill out together with their patients. In this way, the handling of nutrition in these institutions worldwide can be recorded in one day. After the survey, the data is entered anonymously into the "nutritionDay" database, after which we receive structured feedback on the nutritional care of the wards in a national and international comparison.

In concrete terms, this means that our trainees interview the patients on the ward. The nutritional history of the patients and their current eating habits are recorded. They also look at weight development and current daily food and drink intake. The ward staff support this campaign by providing patients with information on nutrition therapy and medical history.

The long-term goals of "nutritionDay" are to

  • Improve the prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals and nursing homes (currently >40% of hospital patients worldwide)
  • Improve the diagnosis/recognition of malnutrition/screening/therapy of malnutrition and the quality of nutrition therapy
  • Bringing the risk of malnutrition and its consequences to the attention of the wider public and health policy makers
  • Comparison and constructive exchange with other Facilities or Institutions around the world
  • Reducing care costs
  • Shorten stays
  • Reduce patient mortality
  • Reduce complications

For our trainees, this campaign is a very good opportunity to increase their own sensitivity to the needs of patients and to train their personal manners and reliability.
If you are curious and would like to find out more about "nutritionDay", just take a look here: nutritionDay worldwide