Study	Reason for exclusion
Antila 1993	The included patients are well‐nourished and advice is given to maintain normal nutritional status.
Arutiunov 2009	This was an observational study and therefore did not meet the inclusion criteria of randomised controlled trial design.
Bachmann 1998	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Bauer 1994	Not disease‐related malnutrition and not adults, participants are adolescent weight lifters.
Beange 1995	Not a randomised controlled trial, no control group, the 88 participants were "chosen" from 550 residents.
Beck 2008	Intervention was nutrition plus exercise compared with a control group receiving neither.
Bills 1993	Not a randomised controlled trial, a questionnaire survey of nutritional practices in a nursing home.
Bolton 1990	Not a randomised controlled trial, but a palatability study of nutritional supplements.
Bories 1994	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Botella‐Carretero 2008	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a 3‐arm trial which compares 2 different oral nutritional supplements with routine care.
Bozzetti 1998	Not a randomised controlled trial, a letter with no data.
Bugge 1997	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Bunout 1989	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this trial compares an enhanced calorie and protein based diet plus a specialized nutritional supplement with a standard hospital diet.
Burger 1993	Not a randomised controlled trial, a 6‐month prospective follow‐up of nutritional counselling in malnourished patients with HIV infection.
Carlsson 2005	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a 3‐arm trial comparing an oral nutritional supplement with an oral nutritional supplement plus nandrolone (appetite stimulant) with routine care.
Duncan 2006	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, the intervention is help with eating from a dietetic assistant compared with routine care.
Efthimiou 1988	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a 3‐arm trial which compares an oral nutritional supplement with routine care. The 3rd group are patients that are normally nourished and receiving usual diet.
Elbanna 1996	Not a randomised controlled trial, this study examines preoperative nutritional support in 2 groups of patients but the control group are purposively recruited before the intervention group.
Elkort 1981	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this trial compared an oral nutritional supplement with routine care, both groups are given encouragement to eat a balanced diet which was considered not to constitute dietary advice.
Elmstaahl 1987	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study has 3 arms and compares 3 different oral nutritional supplements.
Eneroth 1997	Not a randomised controlled trial and comparison does not meet inclusion criteria. This study compares supplementary nutrition, which can consist of an oral nutritional supplement, enteral or parenteral feeding with hospital food.
Engel 1995	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Flynn 1987	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares individualised nutritional counselling to an oral nutritional supplement with standard nutritional.
Forli 2006	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Franzoni 1996	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Glimelius 1992	Not a randomised controlled trial, an historical control group was used.
Heberer 1984	Incorrect comparisons, study of parenteral nutrition.
Henquin 1989	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Hickson 2004	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, the intervention is help with eating from a dietetic assistant compared with routine care.
Hogan 1997	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Holder 2003	Not a randomised controlled trial, a review article.
Hulsewe 1997	Not a randomised controlled trial, a discussion of perioperative nutritional interventions.
Idilman 2009	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a retrospective review of nutrition intervention and outcomes in patients with alcoholic liver disease.
Ireton 1995	Not a randomised controlled trial, an observational study.
Jamieson 1997	Not a randomised controlled trial, a retrospective audit.
Jie 2009	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares enteral and parenteral feeding.
Johnson 1993	Not a randomised controlled trial and comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a comparison of oral nutritional supplements with no nutritional supplement. Both groups follow their usual diet, therefore there is no counselling component.
Keller 1995	Not a randomised controlled trial a retrospective survey of outcomes in malnourished and normally nourished patients.
Knowles 1988	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a study of an oral nutritional supplement with no nutritional supplement.
Kondrup 1998	Not a randomised controlled trial, a retrospective survey of outcomes in malnourished patients
Krasnoff 2006	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a study of nutritional counselling plus exercise compared with routine care.
Kruizenga 2005	Not a randomised controlled trial, a controlled study using historical controls.
Lejeune 2005	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a study of dietary advice to achieve weight loss in moderately overweight patients.
Levine 1982	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a study of standard diet compared with parenteral nutrition.
Lipschitz 1985	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Lynch 1983	Not a randomised controlled trial, a prospective study.
Manders 2009	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this is a study of oral nutritional supplements compared with no nutritional supplement.
McWhirter 1996	Incorrect comparison (oral versus NG supplementation).
Mendenhall 1993	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares a nutritional supplement with a placebo nutritional supplement.
Mendenhall 1995	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares hospital diet plus an oral nutritional supplement and a vitamin and mineral supplement with hospital diet plus a vitamin and mineral supplement plus a placebo nutritional supplement.
Monnin 1993	Not a randomised controlled trial, a report of the findings from a questionnaire on nutritional counselling in breast cancer.
Munck 1998	Not a randomised controlled trial, a review of dietary counselling.
Neidich 1985	Not a randomised controlled trial, the intervention is a high nitrogen food supplement and the participants are mainly children.
Newmark 1981	Not a randomised controlled trial.
Neyman 1996	Not a randomised controlled trial and comparison does not meet inclusion criteria. This study compares outcomes in participants in a congregate‐site meals programme with people not participating in the programme.
Nijs 2006	The comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study compares family‐style dining versus traditional dining.
Olofsson 2007	The intervention included many aspects of medical care in addition to a nutritional intervention that may have accounted for any reported benefits.
Openbrier 1984	Not a randomised controlled trial, this is a prospective evaluation of nutritional intervention in malnourished patients with emphysema.
Ottery 1996	Not a randomised controlled trial, a description of improvements following nutritional intervention.
Parrott 2006	The comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study compares a snack‐type supplement provided to people with Alzheimers disease in a nursing home which is not the same as dietary advice.
Patel 1998	Not a randomised controlled trial and comparison does not meet inclusion criteria. This study examines the efficacy of dietary advice to avoid weight gain.
Payette 2002	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares an oral nutritional supplement plus encouragement to improve food intake with routine care.
Pedersen 2005	Not a randomised controlled trial, this is a quasi‐experimental study of nurse‐facilitated patient involvement in care.
Pietersma 2003	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares patient selection of one meal a day from the food cart compared with receiving the usual plated meal.
Planas 2005	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares two groups both receiving dietary advice and supplements but the target energy intake varied between the groups.
Plank 2008	Comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study compares oral nutritional supplements with no nutritional supplements.
Rabinovitch 2006	Not a randomised controlled trial, a re‐analysis of data.
Rassmussen 2006	Not a randomised controlled trial and comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, as the intervention does not aim to increase nutritional intake.
Rüfenacht 2010	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria. This study compares hospital diet plus ONS with dietary counselling plus ONS as required.
Salas‐Salvado 2005	The comparison is unclear but appears to be dietary advice plus provision of puree diet and inclusion of a snack‐type supplement based on natural lypolysed food compared with dietary advice plus provision of a puree diet.
Saudny 1997	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares hospital diet and a supplement or extra food with hospital diet only.
Simmons 2008	Potential for bias in patient selection because to be eligible for inclusion, the nursing home residents had to demonstrate that they were responsive to one of the feeding assistance interventions.
Smoliner 2008	Comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study compares the provision of fortified food with routine care in a nursing home which does not meet the definition of dietary advice.
Solerte 2008	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares an amino acid mixture with a placebo.
Solomon 1978	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares a combination of pre‐operative and post‐operative diets including a hypo‐caloric, carbohydrate‐free, protein‐containing diet with normal diet.
Sridar 1994	Not a randomised controlled trial, a prospective study of 12 patients with COPD after nutritional intervention.
Stack 1996	Not a randomised controlled trial, a prospective, descriptive trial with no control group.
Stark 1990	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, all participants were children.
Swanenburg 2007	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study compares exercise plus an oral nutritional supplement with no exercise and no supplement.
Tatsumi 2009	Comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, the intervention in this study is "Hochuekkito" which is a herbal medicine.
Taylor 2006	Comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study compares meal frequency (5 meals versus 3 meals) on nutritional outcomes.
Turic 1998	Comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study involves the provision of a nutritional supplement or snacks to nursing home residents which does not meet the definition of dietary advice.
Unosson 1992	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, the intervention is hospital diet plus a nutritional supplement compared with hospital diet.
Vargas 1995	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study has 4 arms comparing different combination of nutritional supplements and training.
Volkert 1996	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, the intervention is hospital diet plus a nutritional supplement compared with hospital diet.
Watson 2008	The intervention consists of both dietetic and educational and psychological motivation. It would be difficult to attribute any reported benefits to nutrition alone.
Williams 1989a	Study mainly in children with some adults. No participants over 16 years of age in control group therefore no comparison group.
Williams 1989b	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, the intervention is hospital diet plus a nutritional supplement compared with hospital diet.
Woo 1994	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, the intervention is hospital diet plus a nutritional supplement compared with hospital diet.
Wouters‐Wessling 2005	Comparison does not meet the inclusion criteria, this study compares a nutritional supplement with routine care.
Wright 2008	Not a randomised trial, a prospective observational study with retrospective control group examining feeding assistance to increase intake.
Yoneda 1992a	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, this study reports on the clinical course of patients with asthma.
Yoneda 1992b	Comparison does not meet inclusion criteria, study is in Japanese but appears to be an intervention to reduce psychological stress in patients with respiratory disease.

COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 
 NG: naso‐gastric 
 ONS: oral nutritional supplements