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Malnutrition

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Definition:

Malnutrition is the condition that occurs when 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.

Alternative Names:

Nutrition - inadequate

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Malnutrition can occur because of the lack of a single vitamin in the diet, or it can be because a person isn't getting enough food. Starvation is a form of malnutrition. Malnutrition also occurs when adequate nutrients are consumed in the diet, but one or more nutrients are not digested or absorbed properly.

Malnutrition may be mild enough to show no symptoms. However, in some cases it may be so severe that the damage done is irreversible, even though the individual survives.

Worldwide, malnutrition continues to be a significant problem, especially among children who cannot fend adequately for themselves. Poverty, natural disasters, political problems, and war all contribute to conditions -- even epidemics -- of malnutrition and starvation, and not just in developing countries.

Related topics:

• Malabsorption
• Hunger
• Beriberi
• Binge eating
• Deficiency - Vitamin A
• Deficiency - Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
• Deficiency - Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
• Deficiency - Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
• Deficiency - Vitamin B9 (folacin)
• Deficiency - Vitamin E
• Deficiency - Vitamin K
• Eating disorders
• Food guide pyramid
• Kwashiorkor
• Megaloblastic anemia
• Pellagra
• Rickets
• Scurvy
• Spina bifida

• Review Date: 5/18/2007
• Reviewed By: Benjamin W. Van Voorhees, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Psychiatry, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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