In 2018, the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) launched a consensus-based framework including a two-step screening and assessment approach and operational criteria to diagnose malnutrition across global health care sectors, i.e., ‘the GLIM criteria’. The GLIM operational diagnostic criteria are based on three phenotypic criteria expressing malnutrition (i.e., significant weight loss; low body mass index; reduced muscle mass) and two etiologic criteria (i.e., reduced food intake or its assimilation; inflammation).

The GLIM criteria have been studied extensively since their launch. From 2019, more than 1000 GLIM articles have been published, of which 200 were validation or application articles.

While the GLIM framework was developed by by collective leadership of four major clinical nutrition societies (European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism [ESPEN], American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition [ASPEN], Federación Latinoamericana de Terapia Nutricional, Nutrición Clínica y Metabolismo [FELANPE], Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Society of Asia [PENSA]), EFAD actively contributes to the subsequent activities to facilitate and stimulate validation and implementation of the GLIM framework.

Further information and educational materials regarding GLIM are available at the ESPEN website: https://www.espen.org/glim