Undernutrition

Abstract

Undernutrition is a term that comprises stunting, underweight, wasting, and being deficient in essential vitamins and minerals (also called micronutrients), and, as such, it is the category of malnutrition that represents nutrient deficits. The other form of malnutrition is associated with excessive energy and nutrient intakes, leading to obesity and other diet-related noncommunicable diseases (i.e., diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc.). Maternal and child undernutrition continue to be persistent issues in low-income and middle-income countries, resulting in important increases in mortality and an overall disease burden such as poor fetal growth, low birth weight, xerophthalmia, anemia, goiter, impaired cognitive development, and increased risk of diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria, among others. Undernutrition exacerbates the detrimental effects of other pathologies and thus is directly or indirectly associated with nearly 35 percent of all child deaths worldwide. Even mildly underweight children have nearly double the risk of death when compared to their well-nourished counterparts.