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In Germany, malnutrition is rarely a consequence of hunger and insufficient food resources. Rather, it occurs as disease-related malnutrition. In 2019, 37 % of inpatients were affected. This leads to a worsened prognosis with increased complication, morbidity, and mortality rates for individuals and high costs for the healthcare system. 3 steps are needed to target these patients: Screening for malnutrition risk - Diagnosis of malnutrition and determining the severity of malnutrition, all using validated tools or criteria. Effec - tive nutritional therapy is possible if malnutrition is detected early. However, there is still a gap in Germany between knowledge about malnutrition and the creation of effective structures for its prevention and therapy. The interaction of the health care professions forms an important basis and requires that everyone's awareness be raised in order to ensure good patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]