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Malnutrition

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Submitted By saadatislam123
Words 487
Pages 2
PBH 101

Assignment on malnutrition

Submitted by: Saadat Islam
ID # 1510987030
Submitted to: Yamin Tauseef Jahangir

Malnutrition basically indicates lack of nutrition which is caused by not having enough to eat or not eating the right things. According to The World Health Organization (WHO) malnutrition is the contributor of child mortality rate by 40% all over the globe, and it has been found that malnourished children tend to grow up having less worse health and lower educational achievements in life, and even end up having smaller babies comparatively. People who are likely to be at highest risk of malnutrition are: elderly people, people who have low income and the ones who have an eating disorder. Some of the symptoms of malnutrition include loss of fat, depression, highly susceptible to feeling cold, taking longer to recover from injuries and infections and sometimes in serious cases the skin may become thin, dry, inelastic, pale and cold. The children who suffer from malnutrition may experience slow behavioral development and even mental retardation may occur in extreme cases. Poor diet may lead to a vitamin or mineral deficiency, among other essential substances.
There are many causes of malnutrition, however, the ones in developed countries are a lot different than the ones in poorer nations. The causes in developed countries include:1) poor diet ( where the person does not eat the right kind of food thus not getting enough nutrition) 2) Mental health problem ( people who are suffering from mental health conditions may also suffer from malnutrition as they do not take the right types of food) 3) Stomach conditions ( where patients just cannot simply absorb the nutrients due to diseases such as Celiac disease or ulcerative colitis) 4) Alcoholism ( alcohol usually damages the digestive system of a person and reduces the ability to digest food, and as they contain calories, they suppress the need for hunger in people thus resulting in malnutrition ). However, in poorer nations, the usual causes are: 1) Food shortages 2) Food price and distribution 3) Lack of breastfeeding.
The solution for malnutrition mainly depends on its severity and understanding whether the illness/condition should be treated or addressed. First of all the patient needs to go under the care of a certified nutritionist who will set out a diet according to the needs of the person, and the patient will be monitored whether he is making any progress after following the recommended diet prescribed by the doctor. For patients who are suffering from extreme malnutrition have to take the help of artificial nutritional support such as tube feeding (where the tube is placed in the nose, the stomach or small intestine) and parenteral feeding (where sterile liquid is directly fed into the bloodstream ). We can prevent malnutrition by taking a balanced diet which includes all the six essential nutrients.

References: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179316.php http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/malnutrition/overview.html

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