Malnutrition results when someone has insufficient nutrients for their needs. Symptoms of malnutrition include weight and muscle loss, a weakened immune system, falls and hair loss. Treatment involves ensuring the person's diet contains enough energy, protein, vitamins and minerals.
However, people who eat plenty but do not have enough variation in their diet can also become malnourished. Malnutrition can lead to: short- and long-term health problems. slow recovery from wounds and illnesses.
Typical signs that you're not eating enough can include losing weight, feeling tired, getting ill more often, hair loss, or skin problems. In time, menstrual irregularities and depression may occur. Children may not grow as expected.
In most patients with malnutrition the intake of protein, carbohydrates, water, minerals and vitamins need to be gradually increased. Supplements of vitamins and minerals are often advised. Those with protein energy malnutrition may need to take protein bars or supplements for correction of the deficiency.
a low body weight – people with a body mass index (BMI) under 18.5 are at risk of being malnourished (use the BMI calculator to work out your BMI)
It is possible to eat 4,000 or 5,000—or even 10,000 calories—a day and still be malnourished! While the average American diet is filled with fat and calories, it can often lack the essential vitamins and nutrients that your body needs to function healthfully.
Symptoms may include fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss. Or, you may have no symptoms. To diagnose the cause of the problem, your doctor may do blood tests and a nutritional assessment. Treatment may include replacing the missing nutrients and treating the underlying cause.
Malnourished children may be short for their age, thin or bloated, listless and have weakened immune systems. Nutritional disorders can affect any system in the body and the senses of sight, taste and smell. They may also produce anxiety, changes in mood and other psychiatric symptoms.
Malnutrition Warning Signs
Some common malnutrition signs and symptoms to look for include: Increased weight loss. Lack of muscle mass. Swollen stomach (called Kwashiorkor)
Underweight - Weight is easy to measure; hence, this is the indicator for which most data have been collected in the past. The mortality risk is increased in children who are even mildly underweight, and the risk is even greater in severely underweight children.
According to the World Health Organization a BMI of less than 18.5 kg/m2 qualifies as underweight for adults. A number of other criteria define severe malnutrition including low energy intake, weight loss, loss of subcutaneous fat, loss of muscle mass, fluid accumulation, and decreased hand grip strength.
Consuming at least 1,200 calories per day has often been touted as the minimum for basic bodily functions and to stay out of starvation mode, but the amount is actually too low. A healthy amount of calories for adult women ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 calories per day and for men it's 2,000 to 3,200 calories per day.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the average adult needs 1,600 to 3,000 calories per day. Although the exact number of calories needed vary based on age and physical activity, 700 is very low. A 2-year-old who engages in minimal physical activities needs at least 1000 calories in a day.
Women, infants, children, and adolescents are at particular risk of malnutrition. Optimizing nutrition early in life—including the 1000 days from conception to a child's second birthday—ensures the best possible start in life, with long-term benefits.
As starvation progresses, the physical symptoms set in. The timing of these symptoms depends on age, size, and overall health. It usually takes days to weeks, and includes weakness, fast heart rate, shallow breaths that are slowed, thirst, and constipation. There may also be diarrhea in some cases.
The power of water
Malnutrition is caused by a lack of nutrients in your diet. When a child suffers from intestinal worms or diarrhea, nutrients are not absorbed and do not make it to where they need to be in the body. That's why, worldwide, hunger and malnutrition are linked to a lack of safe water and sanitation.