Poor nutrition leading to prolonged hospital stay, increased complications – WASPEN

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Poor nutrition leading to prolonged hospital stay, increased complications – WASPEN

The West African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, WASPEN, has declared that inadequate nutritional support is the main reason why many patients are spending more time in hospitals.

WASPEN noted that many patients in Nigerian hospitals suffer from inadequate nutritional support, resulting in prolonged hospital stays.

WASPEN President, Dr. Teresa Pounds, made these revelations while addressing an online press conference heralding the 2025 WASPEN Clinical Nutrition Conference on Monday.

Pounds, while speaking at the press conference held in collaboration with the National Hospital Abuja and attended by DAILY POST and other journalists, said that poor nutritional support is leading to increased complications and higher mortality rates.

She explained that the issue must be addressed urgently.

She used the opportunity to call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make clinical malnutrition a national healthcare priority.

Pounds, while speaking further, maintained that the present government should implement a national policy framework to support specialized clinical nutrition interventions.

She further called on the federal and state ministries of health to expand and enforce standardized clinical nutrition policies.

She advised them to ensure that hospitals conduct structured nutrition screening for all patients and make medical nutrition therapy accessible and affordable.

Pounds, who described malnutrition as “the skeleton in the hospital’s closet,” emphasized the need for urgent awareness, policy reform, and collaboration among healthcare stakeholders to ensure effective hospital nutrition programs.

She said, “Many patients in Nigerian hospitals suffer from inadequate nutritional support, leading to prolonged hospital stays, increased complications, and higher mortality rates. This issue must be addressed at the highest level.

“We need a national framework that ensures no patient suffers due to a lack of proper nutrition.”