INTRODUCTION: The proportion of elderly patients who are undernourished is high and undernutrition has serious health implications. No consensus exists regarding nutritional screening measurements suitable for elderly patients. There is a need to identify risk factors for undernutrition in elderly patients to enable prevention and treatment. AIM: To identify clinically identifiable risk factors for undernutrition in geriatric patients on admission. METHODS: Newly admitted patients (n=196, mean age 83.7 years) were examined for nutritional risk factors by the nursing staff. Analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for undernutrition. RESULTS: Undernutrition was present in 41% of the patients using a Body Mass Index cut-off