PT Health Life – Malnutrition in adults can cause many serious consequences such as increasing the risk of infection, risk of chronic disease, and even shortening life expectancy…
1. Signs of malnutrition in adults
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) malnutrition refers to a deficiency, excess or imbalance in a person’s supply of energy and/or nutrients.
The term malnutrition refers to three groups of conditions such as malnutrition, including wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age), and underweight (low weight for age).
Micronutrient-related malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies (lack of important vitamins and minerals) or micronutrient excesses; malnutrition, including overweight, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke , diabetes, and some cancers ) .
By 2022, there will be 2.5 billion overweight adults in the world, of which 890 million are obese and 390 million are underweight.
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According to MSc. Doctor. Pham Tran Thien Nhan, lecturer in the Department of Nutrition – Food Safety, some signs of malnutrition in adults include:
- Unexplained weight loss.
- Fatigue, physical weakness.
- Reduced resistance, easy to get sick.
- Anemia .
- Hair loss, dry skin, brittle nails.
- Swollen gums, bleeding gums…
Malnutrition or chronic energy deficiency (CED) will reduce muscle mass, thereby reducing exercise performance and labor productivity. Research shows that every 1% increase in BMI can increase work performance by 0.8%.
In addition, chronic lack of energy also significantly reduces life expectancy. Specifically, people aged 40 who do not smoke but have a BMI < 18.5=””> 2 may lose more than 4 years of life expectancy.

2. Causes of malnutrition in adults
MSc. Doctor. Pham Tran Thien Nhan said that chronic malnutrition and lack of energy are often due to the following two groups of causes:
– Due to medical conditions: People with cancer, malabsorption syndrome , gastrointestinal diseases…
– Due to insufficient diet: The cause of malnutrition is nutritional deficiency due to poverty and lack of food.
– Other reasons: In fact, according to WHO statistics, in the Asia Pacific region, high-income countries have even higher rates of chronic energy shortage than low-income countries, especially in women.
This shows that malnutrition is also affected by the complex interaction of many social factors such as gender inequality, strict diet culture, and psychological eating disorders.

3. Can malnutrition in adults be overcome?
According to Associate Professor, PhD. Nguyen Thi Lam, former Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, patients need to have a reasonable nutritional regimen to achieve the goal of improving weight, correcting nutritional deficiencies and maintaining cell function, and compensating. tissue loss.
Accordingly, it is necessary to follow the principles:
– Energy needs: Increase from 20 kcal/kg body weight/day to 40 – 45 kcal/kg body weight/day depending on the medical condition and tolerance level of malnourished people to compensate for malnutrition. shortage.
– Protein : Gradually increase to reach 1.5g/kg of body weight/day, prioritizing protein sources with high biological value from animal sources and processing methods to create dishes with high energy density.
– Lipids: Accounts for 20 – 30% of total daily energy.
– Glucid : Accounts for 60 – 65% of total daily energy.
In addition, severely malnourished patients need to pay attention to supplementing micronutrients such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin B1 .
However, to prevent and improve chronic malnutrition and lack of energy, in addition to ensuring a suitable diet, MSc. Doctor.
- Have a reasonable and scientific weight goal.
- Build balanced, diverse meals with enough energy and nutrients.
- Increase green vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans.
- Limit processed foods, high in fat, sugar, and salt.
- Supplement foods rich in essential vitamins and minerals.
- Combine exercise, healthy living, and emotional regulation.