PT Health Life- Malnutrition is often considered a lack of calories or a lack of one or more essential nutrients such as protein, affecting overall health and brain development in children.
Fasting, dieting to lose weight or for some reason not being provided with enough nutrition such as having a disorder that makes eating or absorbing food difficult or having a greatly increased calorie need during the period. Rapid growth periods can cause malnutrition .
Malnutrition is an imbalance between the nutrients the body needs and the nutrients the body receives. Therefore, in addition to deficiency, malnutrition also includes overnutrition (consuming too many calories or too much of a specific nutrient such as protein, fat, vitamins, minerals or other supplements). . For children, poor or incorrect nutrition is a risk of malnutrition, affecting their development.
1. Signs of malnutrition in children
Doctors can usually diagnose malnutrition based on the person’s appearance, height, weight, and condition (including information about diet and weight loss).
Malnutrition often shows clearly: People are underweight, bones often protrude, skin is dry and less elastic, hair is dry and falls out easily. The child is not growing or gaining weight at the expected rate (slow growth); behavior changes, such as irritability, slowness, or unusual anxiety; low energy levels and fatigue more easily than other children.
Symptoms of malnutrition in children may include:
- Lack of interest in food or drink.
- Always feel cold.
- Get sick more often and recover longer.
- Slow behavioral and intellectual development, learning difficulties…
2. Lack of calories and protein causes malnutrition
Protein-energy malnutrition is a serious deficiency of protein and calories, which occurs when people do not consume enough protein and calories over a long period of time. Hunger is the most serious form of protein-energy malnutrition. It is the result of complete lack of nutrients over a long period of time.
Malnutrition is often considered a deficiency primarily in calories (i.e., overall food consumption) or protein deficiency. According to BS. Le Thi Loan, Institute of Nutrition, protein has been identified as the most important substance or factor that creates life, is a structural material, builds and regenerates organizations in the body, and is the main component of Antibodies help the body fight infections, perform immune functions, and help the body develop both stature and intelligence.
Vitamin deficiencies and mineral deficiencies are often considered separate disorders. However, when calories are lacking, vitamins and minerals may also be lacking.
3. Main types of malnutrition
Malnutrition progresses in stages. When not consuming enough calories, the body will first break down its own fat and use it as calories – like “burning furniture” to keep the house warm. After using up its fat stores, the body can break down other tissues, such as muscle and tissues in internal organs, leading to serious problems, including death.
Protein-energy malnutrition has three main forms:
- Marasmus
- Kwashiorkor
- Marasmic kwashiorkor
Marasmus: Severe deficiency in calories and protein. It tends to develop in infants and young children often leading to weight loss, loss of muscle and fat, and dehydration. Breastfeeding usually protects against marasmus.
Kwashiorkor: Severe deficiency of protein in excess of calories. Kwashiorkor is less common than marasmus.
Kwashiorkor tends to be limited to certain areas of the world, where staple foods and weaning foods are deficient in protein even though they provide adequate calories in the form of carbohydrates. Examples of such foods are yams, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, and green bananas. However, anyone can develop kwashiorkor if their diet consists mainly of carbohydrates. People with kwashiorkor retain fluid, making them appear puffy and swollen. If kwashiorkor is severe, the abdomen may protrude.
Marasmic kwashiorkor: This condition occurs when a child with kwashiorkor does not consume enough calories. Children with this disorder retain fluid, and muscle and fatty tissue waste.
4. Consequences of malnutrition for children
According to UNICEF, globally, at least 13.6 million children under 5 years old suffer from severe malnutrition, the cause of one in five deaths in children under 5 years old, making this disease one of the deadliest in the world. the leading threat to children’s survival. A severely wasted child is 11 times more likely to die from common childhood diseases such as pneumonia than a healthy child, the largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. gender.
Malnourished children have higher mortality and morbidity rates. One of the factors that influence cognitive development is nutrition. According to a study, childhood is susceptible to nutritional deficiencies due to rapid brain development during this period.
Studies have reported poor motor skills, adaptive behavior, language, and social skills in malnourished children. Many types of cognitive impairment have been reported in malnourished children. Malnutrition is also associated with deficits in memory, visual motor coordination and social skills. Additionally, reduced IQ scores are associated with the severity of malnutrition.
