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Child malnutrition – a statement on inaccurate figures

Figures reported in some national and local media on the number of children admitted to hospital with malnutrition at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are inaccurate.

Malnutrition (noun): Lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat and being unable to use the food that one does eat.
Malnutrition definition

The correct number of young patients admitted between January 2015 and January 2020 is 33, and not 915 as has been reported. This has understandably caused considerable concern to many.

We fully recognise that malnutrition in children is an important public health issue that should be subject to public scrutiny and open debate, but it is equally important that this takes place on the basis of the correct facts.