Background & aims Nutritional knowledge in patients with SARS-Cov2 infection (COVID-19) is limited. Our objectives were: i) to assess malnutrition in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, ii) to investigate the links between malnutrition and disease severity at admission, iii) to study the impact of malnutrition on clinical outcomes such as transfer to an intensive care unit (ICU) or death. Methods Consecutive patients hospitalized in a medicine ward at a university hospital were included from March 21st to April 24th 2020 (n = 114, 60.5% males, age: 59.9 ± 15.9 years). Nutritional status was defined using Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria. Clinical, radiological and biological characteristics of COVID-19 patients were compared according to the presence of malnutrition. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between nutritional parameters and unfavourable outcomes such as transfer to intensive care unit (ICU) or death. Results The overall prevalence of malnutrition was 42.1% (moderate: 23.7%, severe: 18.4%). The prevalence of malnutrition reached 66.7% in patients admitted from ICU. No significant association was found between nutritional status and clinical signs of COVID-19. Lower albumin levels were associated with a higher risk of transfer to ICU (for 10 g/l of albumin, OR [95%CI]: 0.31 [0.1; 0.7]; p < 0.01) and this association was independent of age and CRP levels. Conclusions COVID-19 in medical units dedicated to non-intensive care is associated with a high prevalence of malnutrition, especially for patients transferred from ICU. These data emphasize the importance of early nutritional screening in these patients to adapt management accordingly.

Objective Physical activity and dietary regimens to optimize health outcomes after bariatric surgery are not well known. This study aimed to determine whether resistance training with dietary protein supplementation is effective in maintaining body composition and physical fitness after obesity surgery. Methods Seventy‐six women with obesity undergoing Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass were randomly assigned at the time of surgery to receive either usual care (controls [CON], n = 22), usual care and additional (whey) protein intake (PRO, n = 31), or usual care, additional protein intake, and supervised strength training for 18 weeks (PRO+EX, n = 23). The primary outcome was pre‐ to 6‐month postsurgery change in lean body mass (by dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry). Secondary outcomes included changes in muscle strength (by one‐repetition maximum testing). Results Loss over time in lean body mass did not differ between groups (CON: mean,−8.8 kg; 95% CI: −10.1 to −7.5 kg; PRO: mean, −8.2 kg; 95% CI: −9.3 to −7.1 kg; PRO+EX: mean, −7.7 kg; 95% CI: −9.0 to −6.5 kg; P = 0.899). The increase in relative lower‐limb muscle strength was higher in the PRO+EX group (+0.6 [0.3 to 0.8]) versus +0.1 (−0.1 to 0.4) and +0.2 (0.0 to 0.4) kg/kg body mass in CON and PRO groups, respectively (P = 0.021). Conclusions Loss in muscle strength observed after bariatric surgery can be overcome by resistance training with additional protein intake.