Malnutrition is an independent risk factor that negatively influences patients’ clinical outcomes, quality of life, body function, and autonomy. Early identification of patients at risk of malnutrition or who are malnourished is crucial in order to start a timely and adequate nutritional support. Nutritional risk screening, a simple and rapid first-line tool to detect patients at risk of malnutrition, should be performed systematically in patients at hospital admission. Patients with nutritional risk should subsequently undergo a more detailed nutritional assessment to identify and quantify specific nutritional problems. Such an assessment includes subjective and objective parameters such as medical history, current and past dietary intake (including energy and protein balance), physical examination and anthropometric measurements, functional and mental assessment, quality of life, medications, and laboratory values. Nutritional care plans should be developed in a multidisciplinary approach, and implemented to maintain and improve patients’ nutritional condition. Standardized nutritional management including systematic risk screening and assessment may also contribute to reduced healthcare costs. Adequate and timely implementation of nutritional support has been linked with favorable outcomes such as a decrease in length of hospital stay, reduced mortality, and reductions in the rate of severe complications, as well as improvements in quality of life and functional status. The aim of this review article is to provide a comprehensive overview of nutritional screening and assessment methods that can contribute to an effective and well-structured nutritional management (process cascade) of hospitalized patients.

Malnutrition is a major public health problem, particularly in the multimorbid medical population, affecting more than 30% of hospitalized patients.^1-4 It results from the complex interplay of different predisposing factors, including immobilization and advanced age and the associations of illness with protein and energy homeostasis, protein catabolism, hormonal function, and appetite that lead to progressive weight loss and sarcopenia.^5,6

Dietary calcium deficiency is considered to be widespread globally, with published estimates suggesting that approximately half of the world's population has inadequate access to dietary calcium. Calcium is essential for bone health, but inadequate intakes have also been linked to other health outcomes, including pregnancy complications, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. Populations in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) are at greatest risk of low calcium intakes, although many individuals in high‐income countries (HICs) also do not meet recommendations. Paradoxically, many LMICs with lower calcium intakes show lower rates of osteoporotic fracture as compared with HICs, though data are sparse. Calcium intake recommendations vary across agencies and may need to be customized based on other dietary factors, health‐related behaviors, or the risk of calcium‐related health outcomes. The lack of standard methods to assess the calcium status of an individual or population has challenged efforts to estimate the prevalence of calcium deficiency and the global burden of related adverse health consequences. This paper aims to consolidate available evidence related to the global prevalence of inadequate calcium intakes and associated health outcomes, with the goal of providing a foundation for developing policies and population‐level interventions to safely improve calcium intake and status where necessary.