The lack of ingestion or absorption of nutrients causes a pathological state called malnutrition.
Malnutrition is a pathological state caused by lack of ingestion or absorption of nutrients . According to the severity of the condition, this disease can be divided into first, second and even third degree .
Sometimes, the disorder can be mild and present, without symptoms, due to an inadequate or poorly balanced diet . However, there are other more serious cases, in which the consequences can be irreversible (even if the person is still alive), caused by digestive disorders and absorption problems.
Symptoms and treatment of malnutrition
Fatigue , dizziness, fainting, absence of menstruation, poor growth in children, weight loss and a decrease in the body 's immune response are some of the symptoms that can warn of possible malnutrition. .
This nutrition- related condition can usually be corrected by replacing missing nutrients and, if caused by a specific problem in the body, by appropriate treatment to counteract the nutritional deficiency. If it is not detected in time or the necessary medical attention is not received, malnutrition can cause disability , both mental and physical, illness and can even be fatal .
Malnutrition is, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) , the main cause of death of infants and young children in developing countries . Therefore, preventing this disease has become a priority for the World Health Organization (WHO) . We must do what we can to help the millions of children born into poverty .
Access to food is essential to avoid malnutrition.
Classification according to type
In more precise terms, it is possible to classify malnutrition into several types, taking into account different criteria. If we focus on the particular deficiencies of the affected individuals, then we can distinguish the following types:
- caloric malnutrition : this concept is also known as marasmus and occurs in those people who eat food in insufficient quantities. This behavior , which is often the result of a lack of economic resources, has a negative impact on the growth of children, with characteristics such as excessive thinness or a lack of fatty tissue. Symptoms that are more difficult to identify or relate to this problem may also appear, such as poor performance in student or work activities, as well as abnormal fatigue;
- Protein malnutrition : occurs in individuals who base their diet on a poorly balanced combination, in which carbohydrates usually predominate to the detriment of proteins. As a direct consequence, there is a lower resistance to infections, skin disorders, abdominal distension and liver diseases.
Another criterion that can be used to classify malnutrition is based on the relationship between the person's height and weight, so that we obtain the following types:
- mild acute malnutrition : although the weight meets expectations, given the patient's age, his height does not reach the expected value;
- moderate acute malnutrition : in this case, the weight is below normal for the patient's height;
- severe acute malnutrition : not only is the weight below 30 percent of what is expected based on height, but some body functions are seriously compromised. It is a very serious problem, with a high risk of death ;
- lack of vitamins and minerals : the severity of this type of malnutrition is so high that the individual no longer has the necessary strength to carry out their daily activities because they feel tired . Furthermore, its defense deficit opens the doors to a large number of infections and it cannot focus on basic learning processes.