Friday, September 11


New Delhii: Nutrition must be treated as a core clinical intervention rather than a supplementary hospital expense, with timely nutritional assessment and feeding capable of improving recovery while reducing the downstream costs of acute and critical care, healthcare experts said at the ETHealthWorld Healthcare Leaders Summit.

Moderated by Dr. Nandan Joshi, Head – Medical & Scientific Affairs, Dr. Reddy’s and Nestle Health Science, the session, “The Economics of Nutrition: Can Better Nutrition Reduce the Cost of Acute Care?”, examined how hospitals can integrate nutrition more systematically into clinical pathways.

Dr. Harsh Sapra, Vice Chairman and Head Neuro-Anesthesia and Neuro Critical Care, Medanta, The Medicity Hospital, Gurugram, said critically ill patients frequently enter a catabolic state, making early nutritional assessment essential.

“The first step is to have a nutritional status as soon as the patient comes in, within the first 24 hours,” he said. Appropriate calories, protein, trace elements and supplements, he added, can help patients recover faster, come off ventilators earlier and reduce intensive care length of stay.

Dr. Himaal Dev, Head of Department and Lead Consultant for Critical Care, Apollo Hospitals, said nutrition has historically taken a “backstage” position behind antibiotics, ventilators and dialysis.

“Do not think nutrition as a cost. We should think, if I don’t give the nutrition, what are the other costs I’m going to pay?” he said, pointing to infections, prolonged ventilation, readmissions and delayed functional recovery.

Dr. Eileen Canday, Head of the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, described nutrition as “medical nutrition therapy”, arguing that its economics should be assessed like any other treatment.

“The more you delay treatment of malnutrition, the higher is the cost,” she said. Canday stressed that feeding should neither underdeliver nor overfeed patients and advocated nutrition stewardship programmes with measurable calorie and protein targets.

Dr. Rajat Agarwal, Director Critical Care, Fortis, Okhla, Delhi, highlighted the cost of repeated feeding interruptions caused by procedures, investigations or lack of clinical attention.

“Nutrition, along with other things, is an equally important part of medical management,” he said, adding that inadequate feeding can contribute not only to immediate complications but also to post-ICU weakness and poorer recovery after discharge.

The panel called for measurable nutrition KPIs, including assessment within 24 hours, timely initiation of enteral nutrition, target achievement, infection rates and ICU readmissions.

Across the discussion, the consensus was that hospitals should stop treating nutrition as the dietitian’s responsibility alone. As Canday put it, “Nutrition is not only a dietitian’s responsibility; it is the entire team.”

For hospitals, the economic case increasingly lies in preventing the much larger costs that arise when nutrition is delayed, interrupted or inadequately managed.

  • Published On Sep 11, 2026 at 05:58 PM IST

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