Originally published October 17 2005
European health experts call attention to malnutrition
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The European Nutrition for Health Alliance warns that the current obsession with obesity may result in the neglect of another serious problem in European countries: Malnutrition among the elderly.
The European Nutrition for Health Alliance says malnutrition is already endemic among the elderly, and with the number of 80-year-olds doubling every decade, the problem is set to get worse.
"Studies have shown that up to 40 per cent of patients are malnourished when they're admitted to hospital, which is a shocking statistic," said Suzanne Wait, one of the co-ordinators of the new group.
The organisation's members include clinical nutrition company Numico as well as former MEPs, doctors, healthcare organizations and public policy experts.
After an inaugural conference in September, the alliance is now working on an action plan to raise awareness of malnourishment among European governments.
Yet malnourishment, an imbalance of energy, protein, and other nutrients that can severely affect health, is going unrecognised in hospitals, nursing homes and the community, according to the ENHA.
The elderly are particularly prone to mineral and nutrient deficiencies but "most of it is preventable using screening tools and good nutritional advice", claims Wait.
If an older person goes into hospital, they may be screened for malnourishment and given appropriate feeding but once they leave, there is no follow-up.
Malnutrition is still irregularly defined and often goes detected so it is difficult to estimate the extent of the problem.
However Professor Marinos Elia, professor of Clinical Nutrition at Southampton University, estimates that malnutrition and its associated diseases cost the UK �7 billion a year.
"Political authorities are still not aware of the problem of malnutrition.
It's not on the political agenda, in any of the 25 countries of the EU nor in Brussels.
It is urgent that policy-makers and society in general make this major public health problem a top priority," says Professor Jean-Pierre Baeyens, chair of ENHA and also president of the International Association of Gerontology and of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society.
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