What Specific Health Conditions Increase Risk of Malnutrition? - Essay Sample

It is a condition that mostly happens when one does not get basic and enough nutrients in their daily diets. When one has malnutrition, the terms have been found to have significant effects on the organs of the body. Malnutrition also contributes to some impact on the person's body functionality because the body tends to lack some of the necessary nutrients that keep the body functioning in the right way (Duerksen et al., 2016). Doctors have advised that those that have malnutrition to check on the balance of nutrients in their meals.

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Health factors have been considered to be the major causes of malnutrition among individuals in the world. The primary and major causes of malnutrition include the following:

Prolonged conditions that lead to loss of appetite have been considered to be the major cause of malnutrition in most people. Loss of appetite is a condition that deprives the body of the basic nutrients taken in food. Appetite makes a person not to eat in the recommended nature, and therefore, this leads to the body being deprived of major and important nutrients. Deprivation of the basic body tridents by the body causes malnutrition in most people ranging from children, adults to the elderly.

The other major cause of malnutrition is an issue of mental health like depression. Depression is one of the major health risks that can easily lead to malnutrition because of the effects that it contributes towards malnutrition. When one is depressed, they tend not to eat as usual, and this can be a great risk to malnutrition because lacks of eating deprive the body of its basic nutrients which are fundamental to the body. Other health sicknesses such as cancer, liver infection, and diarrhea are major conditions that contribute to malnutrition. This illness, especially diarrhea, affects the body absorption and digestion process, which thus lead to loss of nutrients and thus translate to malnutrition. (Lindmark et al., 2018)

Eating disorders have also been linked as a health risk to malnutrition. The common eating disorder that has been linked to malnutrition is dementia. Dementia is a mental disorder, especially among the aged, where the patient tends to forget their daily activities quickly. The condition can translate to the person forgetting to take their meals, which can lead to them lacking essential nutrient value in their body. It is a condition that needs to be taken keenly because of the aged don't usually realize until it is too late. Health conditions that lead to disruption of the ability of the body to fully take the digestion process or in the absorption of the food nutrients. These health conditions include; ulcerative colitis is a health condition that has been highly linked to causing, malnutrition among many people in the world. Anorexia is a health disorder and a mental problem that keeps most of its victims want to lose as much weight as possible; this can lead to them not eating. If they no longer eat as required, it can then lead to nutrition deficiency in the body, which eventually leads to malnutrition. Anorexia is a health condition that needs to be checked because it is a significant risk factor to malnutrition. (Akombi et al., 2016)

Malnutrition has been termed as a health condition that is mostly an attribute of nutrient deficiency in the body. It is, therefore, necessary that everyone checks the way to which they eat and nutrition education. Significant Health risks such as depression, cancer, eating disorder are among the important health conditions that have been linked to causing malnutrition among people around the world.

References

Akombi, B. J., Agho, K. E., Merom, D., Renzaho, A. M., & Hall, J. J. (2017). Child malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa: A meta-analysis of demographic and health surveys (2006-2016). PloS one, 12(5), e0177338.

Duerksen, D. R., Keller, H. H., Vesnaver, E., Laporte, M., Jeejeebhoy, K., Payette, H., ... & Allard, J. P. (2016). Nurses' perceptions regarding the prevalence, detection, and causes of malnutrition in Canadian hospitals: results of a Canadian malnutrition task force survey. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 40(1), 100-106.

Lindmark, U., Jansson, H., Lannering, C., & Johansson, L. (2018). Oral health matters for the nutritional status of older persons-A populationbased study. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(5-6), 1143-1152.