Still hungry in hospital: identifying malnutrition in acute hospital admissions

We assessed the prevalence, methods for recognition and clinical management of malnutrition in acute admissions in a large academic inner‐city hospital. Of a total of 337 patients, it was possible to measure both height and weight in 219 patients (65% of admissions). As an alternative for bed‐bound patients, mid‐upper arm circumference was not very reliable in predicting BMI (sensitivity 98%; specificity 65%), and waist circumference even less so. Of these, 13% were malnourished (body mass index BMI 3 kg in the last 3 months). Six patients (31% of those with BMI