malnutrition Malnutrition refers to an inadequate intake of various nutrients or an imbalance in their proportions, leading to an inability to meet the body's requirements for normal physiological activities, which can adversely affect both the psychological and physiological health of an individual, as well as overall bodily functions.

Malnutrition refers to insufficient intake or imbalanced proportions of various nutrients, which fail to meet the body's normal metabolic needs, and can have adverse effects on both the psychological and physiological health of an individual. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water, minerals, vitamins, and trace elements are the seven essential nutrients for the human body. Insufficient intake or increased consumption of these nutrients can lead to malnutrition. Overconsumption of nutrients, especially fats, can lead to nutrient excess.

Marasmic Malnutrition

The primary cause is insufficient intake of nutrients due to inadequate breastfeeding, improper supplementary feeding, or selective eating habits in children. This type is common in premature infants, while adults often experience it due to inadequate food intake caused by poverty.

Kwashiorkor Malnutrition

Kwashiorkor malnutrition primarily results from severe protein deficiency, which fails to meet the body's normal requirements for protein. In infants and young children, it can result from inadequate breastfeeding or a lack of protein in supplementary foods. In adults, it is often due to a diet lacking in high-quality proteins from fish, meat, eggs, and dairy. In the elderly, it is commonly associated with digestive system diseases affecting food intake, severe trauma leading to malnutrition, or other chronic conditions.

Secondary Protein-Energy Malnutrition

This type primarily results from other diseases. It occurs due to three main factors, which can coexist and mutually influence each other:

Diseases causing reduced food intake, such as difficulty swallowing, gastrointestinal obstruction, or anorexia.

Digestive system diseases like chronic diarrhea, chronic peptic ulcers, as well as chronic wasting diseases such as diabetes, nephrotic syndrome, leading to nutrient absorption disorders.

Increased energy expenditure due to conditions like fever, hyperthyroidism, which, when combined with limited energy reserves in children, the elderly, pregnant women, or long-term illness, leads to inadequate energy for the body.

Marasmic Malnutrition

Patients experience weight loss, reduced subcutaneous fat, and significant emaciation. Children may exhibit delayed growth and development, significantly lower body weight than normal children, and stunted growth.

Reduced subcutaneous fat leads to sunken cheeks, loose and wrinkled skin, dry and brittle hair.

Children may have weak crying, fatigue, delayed reactions, mental lethargy, slight decreases in body temperature and blood pressure, and sunken abdomen.

Patients may experience hunger diarrhea, characterized by frequent, small amounts of dark green, mucous stools. Repeated vomiting and diarrhea can lead to dehydration and acidosis.

Patients have reduced immunity and are prone to various infections, particularly respiratory infections.

Kwashiorkor Malnutrition

Patients typically display characteristic edema, initially appearing as pitting edema in the lower extremities, and in severe cases, may extend to the trunk and face, and even ascites.

Patients exhibit emaciation, muscle wasting, reduced muscle tone, cold extremities, dull expression, flat affect, and abdominal distension; their hair is dry, brittle, sparse, and slow-growing, with easily broken and slow-growing nails.

Loss of appetite and recurrent diarrhea and vomiting are common, often accompanied by fat intolerance.

Slowed heart rate and low blood pressure can severely affect the brain tissue of infants with kwashiorkor.

Secondary Protein-Energy Malnutrition

Patients experience weight loss, reduced subcutaneous fat, and in children, there may be stunted growth.

They exhibit fatigue, malaise, apathy, dull skin, and reduced skin elasticity.

Characteristic edema is often present, often combined with manifestations of malnutrition in other systems.

Parents should feed infants and young children scientifically and reasonably, correcting their unhealthy eating habits.

The patient's food intake should gradually increase from small to large and from fine to coarse.

For patients prone to diarrhea, easily digestible foods should be consumed regularly.

Patients should engage in regular exercise, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and receive timely vaccinations.

Maintain a clean living environment to prevent infections.

Apart from cases where malnutrition is due to clear reasons such as economic deprivation, most malnourished patients need to identify the underlying causes and receive treatment, thereby increasing the effectiveness of treatment and preventing malnutrition from recurring.

There should be increased awareness about the importance of nutrition for health, and at the national level, efforts should be made to improve the dietary conditions of populations in economically deprived areas.

Promote balanced dietary habits and scientific feeding practices, especially for infants, young children, and child patients.

Actively treat underlying diseases to prevent malnutrition in the advanced stages of illness.