File:A_malnourished_child_in_an_MSF_treatment_tent_in_Dolo_Ado.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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malnutrition

Also known as malnourishment, nutritional deficiency

Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues and form.

AI overview

Malnutrition happens when your body doesn't get the right amount or balance of nutrients it needs, whether that's too little food, too much food, or the wrong mix of nutrients like protein and energy. This imbalance damages your body's tissues and overall health in harmful ways.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Medical condition.name: Malnutrition
Medical condition.image: A malnourished child in an MSF treatment tent in Dolo Ado.jpg
Medical condition.caption: Underfed child in Dolo Ado, Ethiopia, at an MSF treatment tent
Medical condition.field: Critical care medicine
Medical condition.image_size: 280px
Medical condition.symptoms: Problems with physical or mental development; poor energy levels; hair loss; swollen legs and abdomen
Medical condition.causes: Eating a diet with too few or too many nutrients; malabsorption
Medical condition.risks: Lack of breastfeeding; gastroenteritis; pneumonia; malaria; measles; poverty; homelessness
Medical condition.prevention: Improving agricultural practices; reducing poverty; improving sanitation; education
Medical condition.treatment: Improved nutrition; supplementation; ready-to-use therapeutic foods; treating the underlying cause
Medical condition.medication: Eating food with enough nutrients on a near daily basis
Medical condition.frequency: 673 million undernourished / 8.2% of the population (2024)
Medical condition.deaths: 406,000 from nutritional deficiencies (2015)

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

184,523 papers

Malnutrition in Hospitalized Old Patients: Screening and Diagnosis, Clinical Outcomes, and Management.ReviewNutrients · 2022Bellanti F, Lo Buglio A, Quiete S et al.DOI: 10.3390/nu14040910
Malnutrition in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis.ReviewNutrients · 2021Traub J, Reiss L, Aliwa B et al.DOI: 10.3390/nu13020540
Diagnosing Pediatric Malnutrition.ReviewNutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2017Bouma SDOI: 10.1177/0884533616671861
Key approaches to diagnosing malnutrition in adults.ReviewNutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2022Malone A, Mogensen KMDOI: 10.1002/ncp.10810
Prognostic impact of disease-related malnutrition.ReviewClinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2008Norman K, Pichard C, Lochs H et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2007.10.007
Consensus statement: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition: characteristics recommended for the identification and documentation of adult malnutrition (undernutrition).JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2012White JV, Guenter P, Jensen G et al.DOI: 10.1177/0148607112440285
Role of the nutrition-focused physical examination in identifying malnutrition and its effectiveness.ReviewNutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2022Hummell AC, Cummings MDOI: 10.1002/ncp.10797
GLIM criteria to identify malnutrition in patients in hospital settings: A systematic review.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2023Alves LF, de Jesus JDS, Britto VNM et al.DOI: 10.1002/jpen.2533

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Kwashiorkor 6180.jpg

Show 2 more facts

Commons category: Malnutrition
exact match: identifiers.org/doid/DOID:8452

Sources (10)

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~74 min read

Article

60 sections

Contents

Prevalence
In children
In adults
Increase in 2020
Type
Undernutrition
Micronutrient undernutrition
Protein-energy malnutrition
Overnutrition
Classifying malnutrition
Definition by Gomez and Galvan
Definition by Waterlow
Effects
Signs
Cognitive development
Causes and risk factors
Social and political
Diseases and conditions
Dietary practices
Undernutrition
Overnutrition
Agricultural productivity
Future threats
Prevention
Food security
Economics
Successful initiatives
World population
Food sovereignty
Health facilities
Breastfeeding
Barriers to breastfeeding
21st century global initiatives
Treatment
Improving nutrition
Identifying malnourishment
Medical management
Bangladeshi model
Therapeutic foods
Micronutrient supplementation
Treating diarrhea
Preventing dehydration
Oral rehydration therapy
Low blood sugar
Hypothermia
Epidemiology
People affected
[[Mortality (book)|Mortality]]
History
Special populations
Children
Women
Physiology
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Educating children
Elderly
See also
References
Sources
External links

Malnutrition is a category of diseases that includes undernutrition and overnutrition. Undernutrition is a lack of nutrients, which can result in stunted growth, wasting, and being underweight. A surplus of nutrients causes overnutrition, which can result in obesity or toxic levels of micronutrients. In some developing countries, overnutrition in the form of obesity is beginning to appear within the same communities as undernutrition.