European Webinar Thursday 13 November 2025
Nutrition Literacy for Change: Empowering Patients to Take Action
Malnutrition remains a significant yet often overlooked challenge for millions of patients across Europe. Despite clear evidence on the impact of nutritional care on treatment outcomes, patients frequently face barriers in accessing information, initiating conversations with healthcare professionals, and participating in decisions about their nutritional needs.
The EU Malnutrition Awareness Week 2025 campaign, coordinated by the European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA), focuses on “Nutrition Literacy & Patient Empowerment”, highlighting the critical role of informed and engaged patients in improving the quality of nutritional care across Europe.
Speakers and topics
To advance this year’s theme, ENHA hosted a dedicated patient webinar to:
- Introduce the EU MAW 2025 patient campaign kit, focused on practical tools and messaging to support patient empowerment.
- Launch the ENHA Patient & Nutrition Impact Group to strengthen patient involvement in policy and practice.
- Raise awareness among patients and patient organisations about their role in initiating and participating in nutritional care conversations.
- Provide concrete advice and examples on how to talk to healthcare professionals about nutrition, fostering more open, collaborative communication.
Watch the recording
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6t7LiEwPfY
Programme
Day 1
EU MAW 2025 focus on Nutrition Literacy & Patient Empowerment
The need for a powerful, structured approach
Unmet needs in intestinal failure
Key findings on nutrition literacy and patient experiences
Designing and implementing nutritional care policies
Advancing Holistic Health Through Optimal Nutritional Care
Malnutrition and undernutrition affect over 30 million Europeans and place an unacceptable burden on individuals and healthcare systems. Integrating patient-centred nutritional care into health policies can significantly improve prevention, patient outcomes, and quality of life. Evidence consistently shows that optimal nutritional care is one of the most (cost-)effective interventions available.
Despite this strong scientific basis, malnutrition remains underdiagnosed and undertreated, leading to major inequalities between people and countries. Nutritional care must therefore be recognised as a human right — every patient should have equitable, timely access to the nutritional care they need to achieve the best possible outcome.
The European Nutrition for Health Alliance (ENHA)
ENHA is a non-profit alliance working to advance holistic health through optimal nutritional care. ENHA and its ONCA campaign collaborate with the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the EU to ensure that nutritional care is embedded in European health policies, programmes, and recommendations to Member States.
Optimal Nutritional Care for All (ONCA)
Launched in 2014, ONCA is a multi-stakeholder campaign that promotes systematic screening for disease-related malnutrition and the implementation of personalised nutritional care across Europe. The campaign supports professional societies, healthcare associations, and patient organisations in 20 countries to integrate nutritional care into daily practice. ENHA provides the coordination, structure, and inspiration behind this work.
We are proud to have the support of the Medical Nutrition Industry International association for the ENHA EU Malnutrition Awareness Week. Sponsors do not influence the content of our activities.
