What happens to malnourished children? & bull; hello healthy

Is your child getting enough nutrition? There are still many young children who suffer from malnutrition and also excess nutrition, this is called malnutrition. Malnutrition in children can occur due to a poor diet from childhood. This can cause the child's growth and development to be disturbed.

What is malnutrition?

Malnutrition makes it difficult for a child's body to do normal things, such as growing and protecting the body from disease. Malnutrition can also prevent children from doing physical activity and learning.

Malnutrition is a broad term that describes the nutritional status of a child, which can be malnutrition or overnutrition. Malnutrition can occur because children do not consume nutrition in a balanced manner. A poor diet can cause children not to consume food sources from the carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin and mineral groups in a balanced manner.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition is more commonly defined as malnutrition. Malnutrition occurs because children do not get adequate nutrition in their diet. The intake of carbohydrates and protein in children is insufficient to meet their body's needs for growth and development. Or, the child's body cannot fully utilize the nutrients that have entered the body because the child is suffering from certain diseases.

Some of the diseases that can cause children to experience malnutrition are:

• Celiac disease. Children with celiac disease have intestinal problems. The child's intestines cannot digest gluten (gluten intolerance). You can find gluten in wheat, rye, and barley.
• Cystic fibrosis. Children with cystic fibrosis have difficulty absorbing nutrients because this disease affects the work of the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ that produces enzymes needed in digestion.

Nutritional excess

Yes, malnutrition also includes excess nutrition, although it may be very rare for people to think of excess nutrition as malnutrition. Even though your child has a weight more than normal, it does not mean that your child has a healthy body. Being overweight or obese in children can occur because the child only consumes more calories than they need, but he does not consume enough vitamins and minerals. This makes the child not get a nutritional balance, so that the child experiences malnutrition. Again, a poor diet can cause a child to lack the vitamins and minerals needed for growth and development.

What is the impact of malnutrition on children?

When a child's body is deprived of essential nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, all organs in your child's body will be affected. Children's health can be affected, both in the short and long term.

Short term effects of malnutrition

Decreased immune system. Children who are malnourished have a weak immune system. Therefore, children with malnutrition have a higher risk of developing infectious diseases or are more prone to contracting the disease. Children tend to have deficiencies in vitamin A, zinc and iron.

The growth of the child is disturbed. Childhood is still a period of growth and development, so at this time children need a lot of nutrition. When children are unable to meet their nutritional needs, their growth and development will be disrupted, children can experience growth delays. Malnourished children are also more likely to have gastrointestinal infections. So, this makes the child's condition worse because it is even more difficult for children to get enough nutrition.

Long-term effects of malnutrition

The growth of the child is disturbed. Long-term disruption to a child's growth can occur due to deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and iron. This can cause the child's growth to get worse, such as in the growth of children's bones. Children who are malnourished in the long term are unable to improve their growth and achieve optimal growth. As a result, the child will have a short height (stunted).

Impaired brain development. In addition to physical growth, children's brain development can also be disrupted due to malnutrition. The child's brain cannot develop optimally, as a result the child experiences learning disabilities, has a low IQ, experiences problems with memory and attention, poor language development, has difficulty solving problems, and has poor performance in school.

How can you prevent child malnutrition?

The best way to prevent malnutrition in children is to give children a nutritionally balanced diet. A balanced nutritious diet is needed to support children's growth and development. You as a parent must meet the nutritional needs of children, including:

• Carbohydrates, which can be obtained from rice, bread, noodles, pasta, and others
• Protein, which can be obtained from fish, chicken, meat, eggs, milk, tofu, tempeh, and others
• Fat (try healthy fats), can be obtained from fatty fish (such as tuna and salmon), avocados, nuts, and others
• Vitamins and protein, can be found in vegetables and fruits