Nutritional assessment

Undernutrition and obesity have serious implications for both health and recovery from illness or surgery. These nutritional problems are common in hospital patients but often go unnoticed. This article reviews the means of carrying out nutritional assessment and recommends simple techniques for routine use at ward level to identify patients who need nutritional intervention. Nursing staff are in an ideal position to undertake nutritional screening and simple nutritional assessment should be routinely included as part of patient assessment.