Malnutrition


"Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together and you've got a kingdom".

Malnutrition occurs when the body is deprived of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients required to maintain healthy tissues and organ function.Malnutrition affects persons who are either undernourished or overnourished. In the United States, dietary imbalances cause more childhood malnutrition than nutritional deficiencies.
Undernutrition occurs when vital nutrients are not ingested in sufficient quantities or are eliminated faster than they can be replenished. Overnutrition happens when people eat too much, eat the incorrect foods, don't get enough exercise, or take too many vitamins or other dietary supplements. Overnutrition is more likely if you are more than 20% overweight or eat a high-fat, salty diet.Approximately 1% of children


Symptoms

Malnourished children may be underweight for their age, skinny or obese, tired, and have impaired immune systems. Nutritional deficiencies can impair any system in the body, including the sensations of sight, taste, and smell. They can also cause anxiety, mood disturbances, and other mental symptoms..

Other symptoms include:

Pale, thick and dry skin

Bruising easily

Rashes

Changes in skin pigmentation

Thin hair that is tightly curled and pulls out easily

Achy joints

Bones that are soft and tender

Gums that bleed easily

Tongue that may be swollen or shriveled and cracked

Increased sensitivity to light and glare


Diagnosis

Overall appearance, behavior, body fat distribution and organ function can alert a physician to the presence of malnutrition. Patients may be asked to record what they eat during a specific period. X-rays can determine bone density and reveal gastrointestinal disturbances, as well as heart and lung damage.Blood and urine tests are used to measure the patient's levels of vitamins, minerals and waste products.

Key facts

  • Malnutrition takes several forms, including undernutrition (wasting, stunting, and being underweight), a lack of vitamins and minerals, being overweight or obese, and developing diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
  • In 2022, 2.5 billion adults were overweight, with 890 million living with obesity and 390 million underweight.
  • Globally in 2022, 149 million children under the age of five were predicted to be stunted (too short for their age), 45 million wasted (too thin for their height), and 37 million overweight or obese.
  • Undernutrition accounts for over half of all fatalities among children under the age of five. These occur primarily in low- and middle-income nations. The global burden of malnutrition has substantial and long-term developmental, economic, social, and medical consequences for individuals and their families, as well as communities.
  • The global burden of malnutrition has substantial and long-term consequences for individuals and their families, communities, and governments.
  • If undernutrition is not treated - particularly during the critical first 1,000 days of life when development occur faster than at any age - they will experience stunted growth. stunting is a chronic condition that inhabits a child's mental and physical development.

Kwashiorkor

kwashiorkor is a protein deficiency disease , cause by poor intake of protein or quality protein over a prolonged period of time. it cause swelling in the body especially in the hand , feet and the face. The hair and skin show characteristic changes - hair may be light colored or depigmented to reddish yellow fall of in patches and the skin show patches and become flaky and peel off.

Eating signs and knowing the signs:
kwashiorkor can be prevented by making sure you eat enough calories protein rich protein foods. Dietary guidelines from the institute of medicine recommend that 10-35% of adult's daily calories come from protein. 5-20% of young children's and 10-30% of older children and teenager's daily calories should come from protein.

Protein can be found in food like:
Seafood Eggs Lean meat Beans Nuts Peas

Marasums
Marasum is due to severe of protein and calories in the diet is not due to calories deficiency alone because marasumic children subsequently develop kwashiokor The common signs and symptoms include loss of weight and failure in weight gain, body fat depletion, and muscles are wasted the marasumic child is characterized with its thin lean skinny appearance whereas a kwashiorkor child is flabby edema and swelling in body.

signs of Marasums:

Visible wasting of fat and muscle Prominent skeleton Head appears large for the body Dry, loose skin Weight loss of more than 40 %