Malnutrition

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Top Contributors - Lucinda hampton, Kim Jackson and Rucha Gadgil  

Introduction

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions:

1. Undernutrition’—which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals).
2. Overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer).

Epidemiology

Malnutrition affects people in every country. Around 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight, while 462 million are underweight. An estimated 41 million children under the age of 5 years are overweight or obese, while some 159 million are stunted and 50 million are wasted. Adding to this burden are the 528 million or 29% of women of reproductive age around the world affected by anaemia, for which approximately half would be amenable to iron supplementation.

Malnutrition is common in Australia. Those most at risk are the elderly, half of older Australians living in aged care or at home are either at risk of malnutrition or are malnourished.

People who have eating disorders, people with a poor appetite, and people with medical conditions such as cancer, HIV or kidney failure need more nutrients and hence are at risk of malnutrition.

The most-common form of malnutrition is protein-energy malnutrition. This occurs when a person gets too little protein, too few calories, or both. Kwashiorkor is a severe protein deficiency. It is common among young children in developing countries.

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