What is Malnutrition and How Can You Prevent Malnutrition?

Here are the details on malnutrition and answer to what is malnutrition and what are the 4 types of malnutrition that you must know.

Malnutrition : A lack of Nutrition

What is Malnutrition and How Can You Prevent Malnutrition?

Malnutrition is a lack of calories or one or more essential nutrients. It can increase because people are unable to find or prepare food, have an illness that makes it difficult to eat or absorb food, or have a very high calorie requirement. 

Common symptoms of Malnutrition

People are overweight, their bones are prone to thinning, their skin is dry and sticky, and their hair is dry and flaky. Doctors often diagnose malnutrition according to a person's appearance, height, weight, and condition (including details about diet and weight loss). 

People are given food in small doses, orally if possible but sometimes through a tube that passes through the throat to the stomach or into a vein (veins).

Malnutrition is often thought of as a major deficiency of calories (i.e., total food consumption) or protein. Vitamin deficiencies and mineral deficiencies are often considered distinct disorders. However, when calories are deficient, vitamins and minerals may also be present. Malnutrition, often used in contrast to malnutrition, is actually a form of malnutrition.

Facts about Malnutrition

Malnutrition The imbalance between the nutrients the body needs and the nutrients they receive. Therefore, malnutrition includes malnutrition (consumption of too many or too many calories of any particular nutrient - protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, or other food additives), as well as malnutrition.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that worldwide, the number of undernourished people has risen from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016.

Causes of Malnutrition

In developed countries, malnutrition is far more common than over nutrition. However, certain conditions increase the risk of malnutrition. These situations include the following:

- To be very poor

- Homelessness

- Having mental health problems

- Severe illness (illness can make people unable to eat enough because they have lost their appetite or because their body needs increase)

- Being thin (baby, children, and teens are at risk of malnutrition because they are growing up and therefore need more calories and nutrients)

- Being old

- About 1 in 7 adults living in the community eats less than 1,000 calories a day - not enough to eat. About half the elderly in hospitals and long-term care facilities do not eat enough calories.

There are 4 main types of malnutrition: wasting, dehydration, obesity, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Malnutrition puts children especially at risk of disease and death.

Treating malnutrition

Depending on the cause of the malnutrition and its severity, treatment may be possible at home or in the hospital.

Dietary changes are the main treatment option for malnutrition. If you are malnourished, you may need to increase the content of healthy foods, or do not use healthy food supplements.

If you can't eat enough to meet your nutritional needs you may need:

a feeding tube to provide nutrients directly to your digestive system

a nutrient-giving drip directly into the vein

Learn more about treating malnutrition

Preventing malnutrition

The best way to prevent malnutrition is to eat a healthy, healthy diet.

A healthy, balanced diet is essential to maintaining health and fitness. To stay healthy, you need to eat a variety of foods from four food groups including:

lots of fruit and vegetables

plenty of bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods

some milk and dairy foods

other meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein

The eatwell guide outlines the different types of foods you need to eat (and in what amounts) to maintain a healthy and healthy diet.

Also read about : The Importance of Nutrition for Good health.

Visit Mind and body care homepage for more info.