Malnutrition

Malnutrition
Underfed child in Dolo Ado, Ethiopia, at an MSF treatment tent
SpecialtyCritical care medicine
SymptomsProblems with physical or mental development; poor energy levels; hair loss; swollen legs and abdomen[1][2]
CausesEating a diet with too few or too many nutrients; malabsorption[3][4]
Risk factorsLack of breastfeeding; gastroenteritis; pneumonia; malaria; measles; poverty; homelessness[5]
PreventionImproving agricultural practices; reducing poverty; improving sanitation; education
TreatmentImproved nutrition; supplementation; ready-to-use therapeutic foods; treating the underlying cause[6][7][8]
MedicationEating food with enough nutrients on a near daily basis
Frequency821 million undernourished / 11% of the population (2017)[9]
Deaths406,000 from nutritional deficiencies (2015)[10]

Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems.[11][12] Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues and form.[13]

Malnutrition is a category of diseases that includes undernutrition and overnutrition.[14] Undernutrition is a lack of nutrients, which can result in stunted growth, wasting, and underweight.[15] A surplus of nutrients causes overnutrition, which can result in obesity. In some developing countries, overnutrition in the form of obesity is beginning to appear within the same communities as undernutrition.[16]

Most clinical studies use the term 'malnutrition' to refer to undernutrition. However, the use of 'malnutrition' instead of 'undernutrition' makes it impossible to distinguish between undernutrition and overnutrition, a less acknowledged form of malnutrition.[13][17] Accordingly, a 2019 report by The Lancet Commission suggested expanding the definition of malnutrition to include "all its forms, including obesity, undernutrition, and other dietary risks."[18] The World Health Organization[19] and The Lancet Commission have also identified "[t]he double burden of malnutrition", which occurs from "the coexistence of overnutrition (overweight and obesity) alongside undernutrition (stunted growth and wasting)."[20][21]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference FFL2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Young2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dor2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference PapadiaDiSabatino2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference WHO2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bh2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference KastinBuchman2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference UNFAO2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Wang, Haidong; Naghavi, Mohsen; Allen, Christine; Barber, Ryan M.; et al. (GBD 2015 Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators) (October 8, 2016). "Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015". Lancet. 388 (10053): 1459–1544. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31012-1. PMC 5388903. PMID 27733281.
  11. ^ Katsilambros N (2011). Clinical Nutrition in Practice. John Wiley & Sons. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-4443-4777-7.
  12. ^ "Malnutrition". www.who.int. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Hickson, Mary; Smith, Sara, eds. (2018). Advanced nutrition and dietetics in nutrition support. Hoboken, NJ. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-118-99386-6. OCLC 1004376424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  14. ^ "WHO, nutrition experts take action on malnutrition". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on April 14, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  15. ^ Lenters, Lindsey; Wazny, Kerri; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A. (2016), Black, Robert E.; Laxminarayan, Ramanan; Temmerman, Marleen; Walker, Neff (eds.), "Management of Severe and Moderate Acute Malnutrition in Children", Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health: Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 2), Washington (DC): The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank, doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-0348-2_ch11, ISBN 978-1-4648-0348-2, PMID 27227221, retrieved May 3, 2024
  16. ^ "Progress For Children: A Report Card On Nutrition" (PDF). UNICEF. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  17. ^ Ngaruiya, C., Hayward, A., Post, L. and Mowafi, H., 2017. "Obesity as a form of malnutrition: over-nutrition on the Uganda 'malnutrition' agenda". Pan African Medical Journal, 28, p. 49.
  18. ^ Swinburn, B., Kraak, V., Allender, S., et al., 2019. "The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change: The Lancet Commission report." The Lancet, 393(10173), pp. 791–846.
  19. ^ References Min, J., Zhao, Y., Slivka, L. and Wang, Y., 2017. "Double burden of diseases worldwide: coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition-related non-communicable chronic diseases". Obesity Reviews, 19(1), pp. 49–61.
  20. ^ "The Double Burden of Malnutrition". The Lancet Commission. December 16, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  21. ^ Ghattas, H., Acharya, Y., Jamaluddine, Z., Assi, M., El Asmar, K. and Jones, A., 2020. The child-level double burden of malnutrition in the MENA and LAC regions: Prevalence and social determinants. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 16(2).