What is malnutrition?
Malnutrition, also known as nutritional imbalance, occurs when a child does not receive adequate and balanced nutritional intake for a prolonged period. This condition is divided into two types, namely undernutrition and overnutrition.
Undernutrition here includes several aspects, such as the following:
- Stunting: shallow height in children with TB/U indicators below -2 SD.
- Wasting: deficient body weight in children with a TB/BB indicator of -3 to <-2 SD.
- Underweight: underweight in children with a BB/U or BMI/U indicator of <-2 to -3 SD, or <5th>
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies in children.
Meanwhile, overnutrition includes overweight and obesity.
Both need to be watched out for because they can cause various health problems in children, for example, children often get infections due to weak body immunity, growth and development disorders, diabetes, and hypertension.
Conditions of nutritional imbalance are also known to be the cause of the deaths of 300,000 children under five every year in developing countries, including Indonesia.
What are the signs and symptoms of malnutrition?
Undernutrition
Undernutrition is usually caused by inadequate nutritional intake according to the child's daily requirements. Various symptoms of undernutrition include conditions such as:
- Drastic weight loss
- Decreased muscle mass
- Decreased tissue mass
- Loss of adipose tissue
- Swollen stomach
- Sunken cheeks and eyes
- Skin can become thinner, dry, inelastic, pale, and cold
- Hair loss
- Long wound recovery time
- Severe fatigue
- Longer recovery time from infections
- Longer recovery time from illness
- Easily depressed and anxious
- Irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- High risk of complications after surgery
- High risk of hypothermia, which is a very low body temperature
- The total number of several types of white blood cells decreases
- The immune system is weakened
- Increasing the risk of infection
- Susceptibility to feeling cold
Apart from having these symptoms, malnutrition in children also causes quite typical symptoms, namely those related to insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals.
Some of the most common types of vitamin and mineral deficiencies in children and their symptoms include the following:
- Vitamin A: dry eyes, difficulty seeing at night or in the dark, increased risk of infection.
- Zinc: decreased appetite, stunted body growth, wound healing tends to take a long time, hair loss, and diarrhea.
- Iron: disturbances in brain function and problems regulating body temperature.
- Iodine: enlargement of the thyroid gland, decreased production of thyroid hormones, and problems with growth and development.
Overnutrition
This condition can be caused by too much daily nutritional intake so that it exceeds the child's daily needs. Various symptoms of overnutrition in children include the following conditions:
- Increased weight.
- Fat body.
- Difficulty breathing, high risk of respiratory failure.
- Joint and muscle pain.
- Severe fatigue.
Causes of Malnutrition in Children
Malnutrition in children generally occurs when children have insufficient or excess nutritional intake. Several factors can cause children to experience malnutrition, namely:
- Lack of parental knowledge about children's nutritional needs
- Lack of access to sufficient and affordable food
- Social and economic factors, for example, poverty, natural disasters, or war
- Poor environmental cleanliness or sanitation
- Certain health disorders, such as Crohn's disease, dysphagia or difficulty swallowing, celiac disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDS
- Infections, such as diarrhea, TB, pneumonia, or worms that frequently recur or recur
- Birth defects, for example, congenital heart disease
- Mental disorders, such as depression and eating disorders
- Iodine deficiency while the child is still in the womb (congenital hypothyroidism)
Not only the various things above, other conditions can put children at greater risk of experiencing nutritional imbalances, for example, the habit of choosing to eat or having difficulty eating (picky eating).
How to Treat Malnutrition in Children
Many impacts of malnutrition can occur, so treatment is needed to treat this condition. Treatment usually includes replacing lost nutrients, treating symptoms, and managing the cause. If a child has been diagnosed with malnutrition or is at risk of malnutrition, a doctor or nutritionist will provide a special treatment plan.
1. Treatment for malnutrition
How to deal with malnutrition is usually adjusted to the severity and special conditions experienced by each child.
In general, there are various treatments for the condition of children with malnutrition.
- Treatment plan. Treatment will be determined according to the cause, which generally includes a specially regulated diet and possibly additional nutritional supplements.
- Diet regulation. For cases of serious malnutrition, additional nutrition can be provided through enteral nutrition (tube feeding or through a tube into the nose, stomach, or small intestine) or parenteral feeding (sterile fluids into the bloodstream).
- Regular monitoring. Monitoring is carried out to check whether the child is receiving sufficient calories and nutritional requirements. As time goes by, treatment can be adjusted to suit the child's needs.
2. Treatment for more nutrition
As a way to address malnutrition due to overnutrition, the child's daily energy needs must be adjusted to their ideal weight and height.
Considering the total intake and the child's weight, it is advisable to reduce energy intake by 200-500 calories per day.
- Children aged 0-3 years. Malnutrition due to overnutrition in children of this age usually does not require a reduction in calorie intake, but only a weight reduction. For example, by redesigning the child's daily menu.
- Children aged 4-6 years. Energy intake is provided according to needs, by returning to the appropriate eating patterns for their age. The total calories to be cut should be around 200-300 calories. This can only be done under the close supervision of a doctor and nutritionist.
- Children aged 7-19 years. The target weight loss for children can now be planned every time they visit the doctor or nutritionist. Weight loss is generally recommended at around 1-2 kg per month. As for calorie intake, it is advisable to gradually reduce it by around 300-500 calories.
Preventing Malnutrition in Children
Preventing malnutrition in children, whether due to undernutrition or overnutrition, tends to be the same. The key is to eat healthy and balanced meals. Ensure that daily nutritional requirements are met properly, not too little or too much.
Always provide your child with a balanced diet consisting of four main food groups, as follows.
- Fruits and vegetables, give your child at least 5 servings per day.
- Carbohydrate sources, such as rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, and cereals.
- Protein sources, such as meat, eggs, chicken, fish, nuts, and their products.
- Milk and dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt.
Don't forget to always maintain your child's health and monitor their growth and development. Take your child to the Posyandu, Health Center, or health clinic every month for weighing. Provide complete immunizations to boost your child's immune system so they are protected from infectious diseases. Also, give vitamin A capsules every February and August until your child is 5 years old.
Those is various important information about the causes of nutritional imbalances in children and the steps to treat them. To ensure your child's nutritional.
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