Malnutrition

What is malnutrition?

Malnutrition is a state of poor nutrition. It can result from insufficient or excessive or unbalanced diet. Malnutrition is a medical term used to refer a particular health condition. Malnutrition can be described as an undernurition health condition caused by insufficient or improper diet. It can also be caused by the poor absorption of food and excessive loss of essential food nutrients.

An individual can also experience malnutrition if the person is not having appropriate amount of nutrients regularly. A healthy diet is very essential to prevent the signs of malnutrition. An extensive period of malnutrition can badly affect a human body. It can also result in starvation, various severe health diseases, and infection.

What are the causes of Malnutrition?

There are some major causes of malnutrition that are mentioned below

• Malnutrition can be occurred due to deficiency of a single vitamin in the diet.
• Starvation is another important cause of Malnutrition.
• Malnutrition occurs if the essential nutrients are not digested or assimilated to the body.
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• Some other causes of malnutrition include poverty, political problems, natural disasters and war.
• Some other causes of malnutrition include poverty, political problems, natural disasters and war.

What are the symptoms of malnutrition?

The symptoms of malnutrition vary with the definite malnutrition-related disorder. All the malnutrition symptoms are noticeable. Though, there are some general symptoms of it. These include-

• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Dizziness
• Decreased immune response
• Low energy
• Poor immune function (which can hamper the body's ability to fight off infections)
• Swollen and bleeding gums
• Underweight
• Bloated stomach
• Muscle weakness
• Decaying teeth
• Osteoporosis or fragile bones that can break easily
• Dry and scaly skin
• Poor growth
• Slowed reaction times and trouble with paying proper attention
• Problems with organ function

All of these malnutrition signs should be examined properly by the experienced physician as malnutrition needs proper test and treatment.

Effects of Malnutrition:

Malnutrition harms both the human body and the mind. It is the major effect of malnutrition.