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Disease-related malnutrition is increasingly recognised as an unwanted consequence of acute and chronic disease. 1 A range of guidelines within different clinical fields and settings recommend the use of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) as part of nutrition therapy for disease-related malnutrition, when food-based strategies alone are insufficient.2–7 Using ONS within nutrition therapy has also proven to be cost-effective.8–10 A common approach in most guidelines is to state that ONS should be initiated without focusing much on how best to do this.4 5 There are guidelines that include some descriptions on how to prescribe ONS,2 3 7 for example, to take patient preferences into account,2 but these guidelines focus on the broader concept of malnutrition treatment and do not comprehensively cover all aspects of ONS adherence. Also, in nutrition intervention studies, fixed doses of ONS are commonly used,11 whereas individualised dosages are more in line with a person-centred care (PCC) approach. Hence, guidance is needed on how ONS should be prescribed to optimise ONS consumption and adherence, to support clinical practice.