Easy Steps to Request a Proclamation
- Click your state’s link to review lead-time requirements and submit your request.
| State and Website | Lead Time for Request |
| Alabama | Thirty-day notice |
| Alaska | Six-week notice |
| Arizona | Six-week notice |
| Arkansas | Thirty-day notice |
| California | Ninety-day notice |
| Colorado | Four-week notice—$25 fee once proclamation is approved |
| Connecticut | Four-week notice |
| Delaware | Three-week notice |
| District of Columbia | Two-week notice |
| Florida | Six-week notice |
| Georgia | Thirty-day notice |
| Hawaii | Four-week notice |
| Idaho | Three-week notice |
| Illinois | Thirty-day notice |
| Indiana | Eight-week notice |
| Iowa | Eight-week notice |
| Kansas | Eight-week notice |
| Kentucky | Thirty-day notice |
| Louisiana | Forty-five-day notice |
| Maine | Forty-five-day notice |
| Maryland | Thirty-day notice |
| Massachusetts | Twenty-day notice |
| Michigan | Four-week notice |
| Minnesota | Twenty-day notice |
| Mississippi | Thirty-day notice |
| Missouri | Sixty-day notice |
| Montana | Two-week notice—This Governor does not issue proclamations, rather the office will issue “Letters of Support” via email or by U.S. mail. |
| Nebraska | Thirty-day notice |
| Nevada | Four-week notice |
| New Hampshire | Thirty-day notice |
| New Jersey | Eight-week notice |
| New Mexico | Forty-five-day notice |
| New York | Thirty-day notice |
| North Carolina | Four-month (120 day) notice |
| North Dakota | Thirty-day notice |
| Ohio | Thirty-day notice |
| Oklahoma | Thirty-day notice |
| Oregon | Forty-five-day notice |
| Pennsylvania | Six-week notice |
| Puerto Rico | At least 60 business day before—Send request: https://www.estado.pr.gov/proclamas |
| Rhode Island | Forty-five-day notice |
| South Carolina | Thirty-day notice |
| South Dakota | Four-week notice |
| Tennessee | Twenty-one-day notice |
| Texas | Thirty-day notice |
| Utah | Thirty-day notice |
| Vermont | Six-week notice |
| Virginia | Forty-five-day notice |
| Washington | Forty-five-day notice |
| West Virginia | Thirty-day notice |
| Wisconsin | Forty-five-day notice |
| Wyoming | Forty-five-day notice |
2. Use the ready-to-go (but customizable) text below for your request.
- Some states offer in-person proclamation signings. If you attend, please take photos and email them to marcom@nutritioncare.org for social media sharing.
- Need state-specific malnutrition data? Feeding America provides food insecurity data by state, age, and race/ethnicity. (most recent data: 2023).
Title of Proclamation: Malnutrition Awareness Week
Name of sponsoring Organization: American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Date by which proclamation is needed: 8/29/2026
Description (What issue is to be recognized? Why is this issue significant and who will benefit from this recognition?):
Information about Organization/Group
The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) is dedicated to improving patient care by advancing the science and practice of clinical nutrition and metabolism. Founded in 1976, ASPEN is an interdisciplinary organization whose members are involved in the provision of clinical nutrition therapies, including parenteral and enteral nutrition. With members from around the world, ASPEN is a community of dietitians, nurses, pharmacists, physicians, scientists, students, and other health professionals from every facet of nutrition support clinical practice, research, and education. ASPEN envisions an environment in which every patient receives safe, efficacious, and high-quality nutrition care.
Malnutrition Awareness Week is the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition’s annual health campaign to educate healthcare professionals, government leaders, community agencies, patients, and caregivers on the negative consequences of malnutrition. Malnourished patients are associated with higher medical costs, longer hospital stays, and increased mortality.
Proclamation Points
- WHEREAS, experts agree that nutrition status is a direct measure of health and that good nutrition can keep people healthy and out of healthcare institutions; and
- WHEREAS, inadequate or unbalanced nutrition, known as malnutrition, is prevalent in many groups, including vulnerable populations such as hospitalized patients and minority populations, with older adults having the highest rate of malnutrition compared to other groups; and
- WHEREAS, illness, injury, and malnutrition can result in the loss of lean body mass, leading to complications that impact good patient health outcomes, including recovery from surgery, illness, or disease; and
- WHEREAS, nutrition is a human right and a social determinant of health, and malnutrition is intensified by disparities, inequities, and social isolation and is further compounded by food insecurity; and
- WHEREAS, disease-related malnutrition is a highly prevalent form of malnutrition; and
- WHEREAS, over 2 million hospital stays involve malnutrition per year; and
- WHEREAS, each day, approximately 15,000 hospital patients with malnutrition go undiagnosed; and
- WHEREAS, malnourished patients have two times longer hospital stays compared to patients with no malnutrition; and
- WHEREAS, the 30-day hospital readmission rate is 2.2 times higher than patients without malnutrition; and
- WHEREAS, readmitted malnourished patients are twice as likely to be diagnosed with an infection; and
- WHEREAS, malnourished patients have two times higher hospital costs compared to the average cost of all hospital stays; and
- WHEREAS, readmitted malnourished patients have 22% higher hospital costs than readmitted patients with no malnutrition; and
- WHEREAS, malnourished patients have two times the mortality rate of all hospitalized patients; and
- WHEREAS, twenty to forty percent of adults in the community are at risk or have malnutrition; an
- WHEREAS, malnutrition leads to more complications, falls, and readmissions, plays a role in cognitive deterioration, decreases functional capacity, and affects quality of life; and
- WHEREAS, screening, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention are key to improving malnutrition in the United States
THEREFORE, I, [governor’s name], Governor of the State of [name of state], do hereby proclaim September 14 through 18, 2026, as Malnutrition Awareness Week in [name of state].
References (if needed):
- Barrett ML, Bailey MK, Owens PL. Non-maternal and Non-neonatal Inpatient Stays in the United States Involving Malnutrition, 2016. ONLINE. August 30, 2018. U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Available: www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports.jsp. Data shared is on 2016 protein-calorie malnutrition inpatients.
- Lanctin DP, Merced-Nieves F, Mallett RM, Arensberg MB, Guenter P, Sulo S, Platts-Mills TF. Prevalence and economic burden of malnutrition diagnosis among patients presenting to United States emergency departments. Acad Emerg Med 2019 Nov 14. Doi: 10.1111/acem.13887.
- Tyler R, Barrocas A, Guenter P et al. Value of Nutrition Support Therapy: Impact on Clinical and Economic Outcomes in the United States. JPEN Journal of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition 2020; 44(3): 395 – 406.
- ASPEN Malnutrition Solutions Center at www.nutritioncare.org/Malnutrition.
- Guenter P, Blackmer A, Malone A, Phillips W, Mogensen KM, Becker P. Current nutrition assessment practice: A 2022 survey. Nutr Clin Pract. 2023 Oct;38(5):998-1008.
- DiMaria-Ghalili RA, Granche J, Coates M, et al. Prevalence of malnutrition in a national sample of older adults residing in community or residential care: NHATS 2017. Innovation in Aging, 2020, Vol. 4, No. S1 p. 793.
- Guenter P, Blackmer A, Malone A, et al. Update on use of enteral and parenteral nutrition in hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of malnutrition in the United States. Nutr Clin Pract. 2022 Feb;37(1):94-101.
- Compher C, Jensen G, Malone A, et al. Clinical Outcomes Associated With Malnutrition Diagnosed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Indicators of Malnutrition: A Systematic Review of Content Validity and Meta-Analysis of Predictive Validity. J Acad Nutr Diet 2024; online ahead of print.
After You Submit Your Request
Complete the form below. Your name, state, and submission date will appear on the Proclamation Request Tracker below. If someone has already requested a proclamation for your state, that’s OK. The more requests a governor receives, the more it signals that malnutrition is an important issue in your state.
Once you receive your proclamation, please email a PDF or photo of the proclamation, a photo of you with the proclamation, or photos from a signing event to marcom@nutritioncare.org so we can share them on social media.
Proclamation Request Tracker
See who’s already submitted a request in your state! You can submit a request even if someone else has already done so. The more requests a governor receives, the stronger the signal that malnutrition is an important issue in your community.
Once your proclamation is received, a link to view it will be added to the tracker.
Don’t forget: Once you receive your proclamation, please email a PDF or photo of the proclamation, a photo of you with it, or photos from the signing to marcom@nutritioncare.org. We will update the “Link to Proclamation” column below.
| Name | State | Date of Request | Link to Proclamation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Doe | Your State | January 13, 2026 | |
| Chad Guerra | March 3, 2026 |