Objective To investigate the causes of nutritional risks among inpatients in middle and small hospitals in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Methods All the screened subjects were surveyed through classified collection of medical records and telephone follow-up. Factors including education background of patients and their family members, career, income, residence, medical payment methods, grade of hospital, and awareness of nutrition were analyzed. Results Lower education background of patients and their family members,less income, and self-funded health care payment were significantly associated with higher nutritional risks ( P ＜0. 01 ). The scores of malnutrition risks were significantly lower in patients whose careers were involved with culture, education and health and in patients whose family members had higher education levels (P ＜ 0.01 ). The nutrition risk was also significantly higher in patients from the rural areas than those from urban areas ( P＜0.01 ). It was also significantly higher in middle and small hospitals than in tertiary hospitals ( P＜0.01). Patients who had good awareness of nutritional knowledge had significantly lower incidence of nutritional risk (P ＜ 0. 01 ). Conclusion Low education level and poor economy in Guangxi are the main reasons for high nutritional risks.