•‘40% of patients in tertiary health centres malnourished’

The West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN) has raised alarm over the rising incidence of clinical malnutrition in Nigeria’s health facilities, warning that the trend poses grave risks to patient recovery, healthcare costs, and survival outcomes.

President and Founder of WASPEN, Dr. Teresa Pounds, speaking during a virtual press conference to mark the second Malnutrition Awareness Week, revealed that approximately 45 per cent of surgical, pediatric, and oncology patients in tertiary hospitals are malnourished. She described hospital malnutrition as a “silent epidemic” that often goes unrecognised but significantly undermines treatment outcomes.

According to her, the crisis is most severe among vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. “Patients undergoing surgery, battling cancer, coping with aging, or suffering from childhood illnesses depend on adequate nutrition for recovery,” she said, stressing the urgent need to integrate hospital malnutrition into Nigeria’s healthcare strategy.

She urged the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders to prioritise nutrition within national health policies. Citing examples from across the country, Pounds disclosed that in Nasarawa State, more than four in ten children under five admitted to hospitals were malnourished, while in Borno, about four per cent of admitted children suffered severe acute malnutrition.

Among elderly patients in Enugu, over 70 per cent were malnourished, with only six per cent classified as well-nourished. “These patients often face slower healing, more infections, longer hospital stays, and in some cases, avoidable re-admissions,” she said.

On community malnutrition, she noted that 30 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted and seven per cent are wasted, describing the situation as untenable. “Community and hospital malnutrition are two sides of the same coin,” she observed. “Progress in one area is incomplete without addressing the other.”

Speaking on the theme “United Against Malnutrition,” Pounds reaffirmed WASPEN’s commitment to generating updated national data on hospital malnutrition, which would guide future health policies. She also called for stronger collaboration on awareness campaigns and the training of healthcare workers to better detect and manage malnutrition.

Echoing these concerns, Ms Juliet Alabrah, a paediatric nurse and midwife at Central Hospital, Warri, disclosed that four out of every ten children admitted to the hospital’s emergency ward were diagnosed with protein-energy malnutrition.

She stressed the importance of maternal education, adding: “Healthcare professionals must do more to educate mothers, because they are the first line of defense in preventing malnutrition.”