The European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA) hopes that the Belgian Presidency of the EU will support the inclusion of undernutrition and disease-related malnutrition as key priorities of the EU’s nutrition strategy going forward, following this year’s progress review by the Commission.

Established in 2005, ENHA brings together a multi-sectoral stakeholder group representing nutrition, public health, clinical practice and social care, united in their aim to tackle the problem of malnutrition in Europe. ENHA’s key aims are to:

• Raise awareness of malnutrition;
• Quantify the burden of malnutrition and demonstrate the impact of improved nutrition and nutritional care;
• Implement wider use of malnutrition risk screening;
• Include nutrition in the training of all health and social care professionals.

Why malnutrition? Malnutrition (inadequate or bad nutrition) is a significant public health problem that has been largely ignored, despite affecting an estimated 5% of the European population, 10-15% of the over 65s, 40% of hospital patients, and up to 60% of care home residents. Being malnourished may severely compromise patient outcomes. Malnourished people are:

• more likely to suffer ill health;
• less likely to recover from illness and more likely to suffer complications;
• more likely to be hospitalised;
• at greater risk of mortality.

As well as threatening people’s health, malnutrition also places a huge economic burden on health and social care systems across Europe, equal to that of obesity. In the United Kingdom, for example, research suggests the cost of malnutrition exceeds €15 billion per year, extrapolation of which would mean €170 billion per year for Europe.

Malnutrition is a major public health challenge in Europe, but it can be prevented and treated. In fact, most malnutrition is preventable, but is not recognised due to low awareness among the public, health and social care professionals.

In recent years, ENHA has helped move malnutrition up the EU agenda:

• 2008: The European Parliament recognised the need for “a more holistic approach to nutrition, making malnutrition, along with obesity a key priority” in its Resolutions on the EU strategies concerning Nutrition and Health (2008-2013).
• 2009: A Joint declaration by the Czech EU Presidency and key health actors was made on the need to address malnutrition in Europe.
• 2010: The European Parliament recognised the importance of nutrition in preventing and treating cancer, calling for EU support to develop guidelines on nutritional support in its Resolution  on Action Against Cancer).
• 2010: ENHA and its members became partners in the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer.

Since 2008, ENHA has also led a landmark study looking at the economic impact of malnutrition in Europe in hospitals, care homes and in the community. The results will be launched at the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) conference in September 2010 and published in autumn 2010.