The British Artificial Nutrition Survey (BANS) was established in 1996 by the British Association for Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition to audit and research nutritional care in hospital and the community, with the overall aim of improving the quality of nutritional support in patients with disease-related malnutrition. In this article the following information emerging from BANS is presented: growth and prevalence of artificial nutrition (enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition), clinical outcome of a wide range of diagnoses receiving artificial nutrition in the community, an economic perspective on home artificial nutrition, and some ethical issues. This information is used to illustrate how BANS can be of value in a wide range of health care activities, including health planning, health economics, clinical practice and patient care.