RESUMEN
We conducted a prospective study of the incidence of malnutrition in the surgical departments of the Reina Sofia University Hospital, on a total of 329 patients at the time of admittance (154 women and 175 men). As was denounced by Bristian more than 20 years ago, more than 50% of the patients presented some form of malnutrition. There are a series of factors, detected by the Chi2 test, which are as divers as sex, marital status, level of education, profession, smoker or chronic medication user, which are of influence on the nutritional status of the patients. The type of malnutrition is conditioned by the marital status, the job situation, the nature of the pathology, or the use of tobacco. Malnutrition still exists in developed countries, induced by many factors, and it is often found in the hospitals, which is even worse.