By Martin Banks - 9th November 2010
Malnutrition requires a cross-cutting solution
Alojz Peterle
Slovenian MEP Alojz Peterle has called for mandatory nutrition risk screening to help tackle the problem of malnutrition.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, the centre-right deputy said he plans to launch a resolution calling for pan-European screening for all hospital patients.
Peterle, co-chairman of parliament's environment, public health and food safety committee's working group on health, hosted the Nutrition Day conference.
He said, "Malnutrition is associated with a whole host of public health concerns and chronic conditions - including obesity, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, some cancers and certain rare diseases.
"All of these place a considerable economic burden on healthcare systems, particularly as society continues to age.
"Malnutrition requires a cross-cutting solution; a good first step would be mandatory nutrition risk screening across Europe, on which I will encourage my colleagues to adopt a parliamentary resolution."
The conference was told that some 20 million EU citizens suffer from malnutrition and the health-related costs of the condition are estimated to be as high as €120bn a year.
At the conference, leading nutrition experts and policy makers urged governments to do more to tackle malnutrition in Europe by making nutrition an "integral" part of public health policies and disease management programmes for chronic and rare diseases.
They also called for comprehensive nutrition guidelines for all healthcare and social-care professionals, and demanded that healthy hydration be built in to good nutritional care.
Professor Jean Nève, chairman of the Superior Health Council of Belgium, highlighted four key ways which he says will ensure people get the right nutrients in their diet.
He said, "Firstly, continue to promote healthy diets; secondly, further develop functional foods including fortified ones, which have the potential to play a role in supporting good nutrition; thirdly, promote the appropriate use of food supplements to reduce micronutrient deficiencies; and finally, ensure the backing of governments and public institutions for large-scale intervention trials on nutrition and health."
