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Malnutrition: Better Understanding for Better Management

Malnutrition is a pathological condition resulting from an imbalance between nutritional intake and the body’s requirements. It leads to a loss of body mass, particularly muscle mass, as well as impaired physiological functions.

What are the consequences?

Malnutrition can have significant effects on health:

  • Loss of muscle mass, which may lead to fatigue and reduced independence
  • Impaired immune function, increasing the risk of infections
  • Delayed wound healing
  • Increased morbidity and mortality
  • Reduced quality of life

What about in Switzerland?

According to the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), malnutrition affects between 20% and 60% of patients upon hospital admission in Switzerland, with approximately 1 in 5 patients presenting with severe malnutrition.

Nutritional Management by the Dietetics Team

Nutritional care is structured around several key steps:

1. Assessment

  • Analysis of the patient’s dietary intake
  • Evaluation of the patient’s ability to eat (adequate dentition, food texture, social environment, financial context)

2. Personalized Nutritional Advice

  • Nutritional enrichment: adding proteins and fats to regular meals
  • Meal splitting: adding snacks to increase protein and energy intake
  • Prescription of oral nutritional supplements delivered at home if intake is ≤ 60% of estimated requirements

3. Dietetic Follow-Up

  • Scheduling follow-up appointments according to individual needs in order to monitor the evolution of nutritional status.

A Key Point: Physical Activity and Nutrition

To maintain muscle mass, sufficient nutritional intake — particularly protein intake — is essential. However, physical activity is equally important.

A sedentary lifestyle promotes muscle loss. In a rehabilitation setting, it is therefore necessary to combine an adapted diet with physical activity: one cannot work effectively without the other.

Contact and Appointments

Inpatient Care

Clnique Valmont
Route de Valmont 22
1823 Glion sur Montreux

+41 21 962 36 00

tpc@cliniquevalmont.ch

Outpatient Care

Centre de thérapies physiques et cognitives de Valmont
Grand Rue 80
1820 Montreux

+41 21 962 36 00

tpc@cliniquevalmont.ch

Our speakers

Clinique Valmont

Cézanne Chatelain

Specialisation
Nutritional counseling
Clinique Valmont

Claire Emery

Specialisation
Nutritional counseling