WHEREAS, experts agree that nutrition status is a direct measure of health, and good nutrition can keep people healthy and out of healthcare institutions; and

WHEREAS, inadequate or unbalanced nutrition, known as malnutrition, is prevalent in many groups, including vulnerable populations such as hospitalized patients and minority populations, with older adults having the highest rate of malnutrition compared to other groups; and

WHEREAS, illness, injury, and malnutrition can result in the loss of lean body mass, leading to complications that impact good patient health outcomes, including recovery from surgery, illness, or disease; and

WHEREAS, nutrition is a crucial factor influencing overall health, and malnutrition is intensified by disparities, social isolation, and further compounded by food insecurity; and

WHEREAS, disease-related malnutrition is a highly prevalent form of malnutrition; and

WHEREAS, over 2 million hospital stays involve malnutrition per year, and, each day, approximately 15,000 hospital patients with malnutrition go undiagnosed; and

WHEREAS, malnourished patients have two times longer hospital stays compared to patients with no malnutrition, and the 30-day hospital readmission rate is 2.2 times higher than patients without malnutrition; and

WHEREAS, readmitted malnourished patients are twice as likely to be diagnosed with an infection; and

WHEREAS, malnourished patients have two times higher hospital costs compared to the average cost of all hospital stays, and readmitted malnourished patients have 22% higher hospital costs than readmitted patients with no malnutrition; and

WHEREAS, malnourished patients have two times the mortality rate of all hospitalized patients; and

WHEREAS, twenty to forty percent of adults in the community are at risk or have malnutrition; and

WHEREAS, malnutrition leads to more complications, falls, and readmissions, plays a role in cognitive deterioration, decreases functional capacity, and affects quality of life; and

WHEREAS, screening, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention are key to improving malnutrition in the United States;

NOW THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize September 16-20, 2024, as MALNUTRITION AWARENESS WEEK in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.