Malnutrition
Alternate Names : Nutrition - Inadequate
DefinitionMalnutrition means a person's body is not getting enough nutrients. The condition may result from an inadequate or unbalanced diet, digestive difficulties, absorption problems, or other medical conditions.
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Overview, Causes, & Risk Factors
Malnutrition can occur because of the lack of a single vitamin in the diet, or it can be because the person isn't getting enough food. Starvation is a form of malnutrition. Malnutrition can also occur when nutrients ARE adequately consumed in the diet, but one or more nutrients are not digested or absorbed properly.
Malnutrition may be mild enough to show no symptoms or so severe that the damage it has done is irreversible even though the individual may be kept alive.
Worldwide, malnutrition continues to be a significant problem, especially among children who cannot fend adequately for themselves. Poverty, natural disasters, political problems and war in countries such as Biafra, Somalia, Rwanda, Iraq, and many others have demonstrated that hunger and malnutrition are not strangers to this world.
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