Mandatory Nutrition Risk Screening

Proposed in the EU parliament:

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.

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.

Perhaps not doing this might help.