Malnutrition in Children – A Few Terms and Ideas

by Alanna Shaikh · 2009-04-21 11:03:00 UTC
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(photo credit: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

Terms

Wasting - Wasting is diagnosed when a children is severely underweight for her height. It comes from general nutritional deficiency and repeated infections. Wasting is especially bad for the heart, and can lead to cardiovascular morality, but it is not immediately life-threatening.

Stunting - Stunting is diagnosed when a child is too small for his age. Height and weight may be proportional but the child is simply undersized. The small physical stature is accompanied by cognitive deficits. Stunting comes from general nutritional deficiencies, and repeated infections, just as wasting does. It's not necessarily life threatening.

Kwashiorkor - Kwashiorkor is the result of inadequate protein. Children with kwashiorkor develop terrible swelling, and very delicate skin. Kwashiorkor is immediately life-threatening, and children with kwashiorkor do not show interest in food.

Marasmus - Also a result of inadequate protein, marasmus leads to massive muscle and tissue wasting. It's more severe than stunting or wasting; it is immediately life-threatening. Children with marasmus are still responsive and interested in food.

Mid-Upper Arm circumference - The distance around the middle of the upper arm. It's a very sensitive indicator for child malnutrition. It's actually more accurate than height-for-weight. More information here.

Ideas

  • Children with marasmus respond better to treatment than children with kwashiorkor. It's not really known why some children deprived of protein develop kwashiorkor and others marasmus. There are a lot of theories.

  • When you see a stout women with a stunted child, that's an indication of poor food quality. An adult can eat bread or rice all day and never get the nutrition she needs. This can lead to overeating, and therefore obesity. A child faced with poor quality food may simply not get the nutrition he needs to grown, no matter how many calories are available. A child in the same situation may also get fat, just as an adult would.

Alanna Shaikh
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