Food insecurity risk situations such as conflict, disasters and pandemics

Abstract

Disease-related malnutrition is a reality among hospitalized patients and a recurrent problem due to the lack of diagnosis and actions to treat and even avoid it. The global population is constantly exposed to situations of risk for malnutrition with hunger coexisting in all continents, in different percentages and with greater emphasis in the countries of Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Food insecurity risk situations such as conflict, disasters and pandemics are frequent and further worsen the condition of people already in crisis. Living with hunger promotes a greater vulnerability to malnutrition and the double burden of poor nutrition coexisting with obesity. Both situations, the lack or excess of nutrients, cause susceptibility to diseases or complications of pre-existing comorbidities, which increases the risk of hospitalization, infections, lenght of hospitalization, health costs, disabilities and mortality. It is extremely important to implement validated tools to identify, as soon as possible, patients at risk or with malnutrition to estabilish nutritional support actions and the follow-up of these patients during hospitalization and post-discharge, within the ethical aspects for each situation, in order to provide benefits without maleficence, avoiding complications, readmissions and with a good cost-effectiveness ratio in the care of the inpatient hospitalization. Keywords: malnutrition; food insecurity; nutritional screening; disease-related malnutrition; human rights; sarcopenia