Final answer:
Malnutrition, including conditions like marasmus and kwashiorkor, arises from insufficient calorie or protein intake in infants, leading to muscle wasting, dehydration, and developmental delays. It starts as early as in utero with low birthweight and is exacerbated by poverty and inadequate access to a diverse and nutritious diet.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a baby does not receive enough of the right foods, the condition is known as malnutrition. A severe form of this is marasmus, which occurs due to a significant deficiency in calorie intake. Babies with marasmus appear extremely thin and frail, with dry, crinkled skin and severe muscle wasting; this is because their bodies are using up stored fat for energy. On top of these issues, babies can become dehydrated, further complicating their health. Another form of malnutrition is kwashiorkor, which is a protein deficiency illness presenting with symptoms such as fatigue, skin problems, weak muscles, and swollen bellies and feet. Both conditions require urgent medical treatment to be reversible, and even with treatment, they can lead to long-term developmental issues.
Undernutrition begins as early as in utero, resulting in low birthweight, which predisposes children to a multitude of health and developmental problems. A lack of important micronutrients such as iron, vitamin A, and iodine can cause serious health issues like anemia, immune deficiencies, and cognitive impairments. The root causes of malnutrition include poverty, inadequate food distribution, reliance on single food sources in some countries, and lack of access to a diverse diet with adequate protein.
Global statistics show that more than 820 million people do not have enough food, with a vast number of these being children under the age of 5. Interlinked with poverty, undernutrition has profound social, economic, health, and developmental consequences. Counterintuitively, undernutrition and obesity can coexist within the same community or even the same household, with processed and energy-dense foods often contributing to the latter.