Undernutrition in children
Medical condition affecting children / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Undernutrition in children, occurs when children do not consume enough calories, protein, or micronutrients to maintain good health.[3][4] It is common globally and may result in both short and long term irreversible adverse health outcomes. Undernutrition is sometimes used synonymously with malnutrition, however, malnutrition could mean both undernutrition or overnutrition (causing childhood obesity). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that malnutrition accounts for 54 percent of child mortality worldwide,[5] which is about 1 million children.[2] Another estimate, also by WHO, states that childhood underweight is the cause for about 35% of all deaths of children under the age of five worldwide.[6]
Malnutrition in children | |
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Malnutrition due to soil transmitted helminth infections in school-age children in Guimaras Island, Philippines | |
Symptoms | Stunted growth, underweight, wasting[1] |
Deaths | 1 million a year[2] |
The main causes of malnutrition are often related to poverty: unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene, factors related to society, diseases, maternal factors, gender issues as well as other factors.