Experts have expressed concern over the increasing cases of clinical malnutrition in hospitals across the country, and called for reforms and urgent interventions to address the situation to improve patient outcomes.

They noted that many patients, especially those with chronic illnesses, surgical conditions, and critical care needs, suffer from inadequate nutritional support, leading to longer hospital stays, increased complications, and higher mortality rates.

Speaking at the 2025 Clinical Nutrition Conference, themed: “Bridging the Gap: Integrating Hospital, Community and Malnutrition Care in Developing Countries”, organised by the West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (WASPEN), in Abuja, founder of WASPEN, Dr Teresa Pounds, emphasised the need for every hospital patient in Nigeria to be screened for nutritional status, as proper hospital nutrition is not just about food, but involves intravenous and enteral feeding.

Pounds observed that many patients in Nigerian hospitals are discharged without their nutritional needs being assessed or addressed, particularly those unable to feed due to critical illness.

She stated that the absence of proper nutritional screening systems, trained clinical nutrition teams, and appropriate products cost lives across the country.

Pounds urged the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to include clinical nutrition services in its coverage and advocated reforms to recognise nutrition as an integral part of medical care formally.

Pounds called for urgent intervention to bridge clinical nutrition gaps in health facilities and highlighted the need for investment in trained multidisciplinary teams, comprising dietitians, pharmacists, nurses, and physicians, backed by evidence-based practices, as well as access to quality nutritional products.

According to her, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has committed funds to fight community malnutrition and appealed to the Federal Government to do the same for hospital malnutrition.

In his remarks, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, said the government is expanding its interventions to all 774 local government areas through the N774 Nutrition Project and reaffirmed government’s commitment to improving nutrition outcomes.

Represented by the Director, Nutrition Information System, Dr Emmanuel Abata, the minister observed that the goal is to ensure that nutrition support does not end at the hospitals but continues in the communities.

Pate disclosed that the ministry is working with WASPEN to standardise clinical nutrition practices through the National Guidelines for Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the conference and former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Prof. Cyril Usifo, said that over 37 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted and about two million suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

He noted that many patients continue to die after discharge because their nutritional needs were never addressed during their hospital stay.

Usifo called for stronger partnerships with local pharmaceutical firms to develop affordable indigenous nutrition formulas, train healthcare workers and educate the public on the importance of clinical nutrition.

On his part, the Chief Medical Director of the National Hospital Abuja, Prof. Muhammad Mahmud, expressed the hospital’s commitment to collaboration, knowledge exchange, and comprehensive healthcare delivery across all levels.