Description
Malnutrition is the condition that results from eating a diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess (too high in intake), or in the wrong proportions. The verb form is “malnourish”; “malnourishment” is sometimes used instead of “malnutrition”. A number of different nutrition disorders may arise, depending on which nutrients are under- or over-abundant in the diet. In most of the world, malnutrition is present in the form of under-nutrition, which is caused by a diet lacking adequate calories and protein—not enough food, and of poor quality. Extreme undernourishment is starvation, and its symptoms and effects are inanition.