Did you know being malnourished isn’t just being underweight? You can be considered malnourished if you are obese as well. That’s certainly news to me.
Nearly 67 percent of the country’s population suffers from malnutrition, according to Oxford Languages. Malnutrition is a lack of proper nutrition. It happens to people either because they don’t have enough to eat or don’t eat enough of the right things.
If you are malnourished, you likely aren’t getting the vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy and properly grow. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that “the developmental, economic, social, and medical impacts of the global burden of malnutrition are serious and lasting, for individuals and their families, for communities and for countries.”
Malnutrition has covers two conditions: undernutrition and overnutrition.
The WHO provides that undernutrition includes “stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals).” Overnutrition includes the conditions overweight, obesity, and other diet-related diseases.
People who are malnourished might experience the following symptoms:
- Lack of appetite or interest in food or drink
- Tiredness and irritability
- Inability to concentrate
- Feeling cold
- Depression
- Loss of fat, muscle mass, and body tissue
- Higher risk of getting sick and taking longer to heal
- Longer healing time for wounds
- Higher risk of complications after surgery
So how can these 1 in 3 people who suffer from malnutrition worldwide avoid the effects of being malnourished?
Although not everyone has the ability to be properly nourished, there are some things you might be able to do that can help prevent malnourishment.
In a universal sense, countries work for food security with new agriculture technologies. There is also the UN’s World Food Program, food banks, soup kitchens, and other programs.
On a more civilian level, breastfeeding has been shown to be one of the most cost-effective ways for providing nourishment to children. For older adults, you can make healthier food choices, snack more, make good-tasting food, try supplements, and exercise (depending on the type of malnutrition you suffer from).
If you have passed the point of prevention and are already malnourished, there are courses of treatment that can help you fix that.
To treat undernourishment, you will need to restore the nutrients that are missing. This can be done by eating more nutrient-rich foods or by consuming supplements. Severe malnourishment has to be treated slowly in order to give the body time to adjust.
Some people have chronic malabsorption disorders or nutrient-losing conditions. Malabsorption is when someone has a decreased ability to absorb nutrients. It can happen if there are any issues with someone’s digestive processes. Individuals with such conditions need regular monitoring in treating nutrient deficiencies.
John Hopkins Medicine says that if someone won’t eat, they could receive nutrients intravenously or through an inserted tube.
There are many organizations out there that strive to reduce world hunger and provide good nutrition to many third world countries such as Unicef and World Vision.
According to Unicef, “nearly 7,500 children under age 5 die from malnutrition” every day. Not only does this damage their own physical and mental growth, it negatively affects society. They say malnutrition costs society up to $3.5 trillion each year. They help the issue by purchasing food to bring to children and by allowing others to donate through their organization. Anyone can get involved and help ease this worldwide burden.