malnutrition

Definition of Malnutrition

(noun) A lack of proper nutrition due to a deficiency (or excess) of nutrients due to inadequate digestion and absorption, insufficient food, or a poorly balanced diet.

Examples of Malnutrition

• avitaminosis: A deficiency in one or more vitamins such as scurvy which is caused by lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) or rickets by a lack of vitamin D.
• kwashiorkor: Lack of protein, typically affecting young children in tropical areas after weaning.
• marasmus: Lack of calories; energy deficiency, typically found in infants.

Malnutrition Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: mal·nu·tri·tion

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈˌmæln(j)uˈtrɪʃən/
• British English – /ˌmalnjᵿˈtrɪʃn/

Usage Notes

• Plural: malnutritions
• Malnutrition is defined not as a lack of nutrition, but poor nutrition. For example, kwashiorkor is caused by a diet high in carbohydrates and low in protein. Eating too little is called starvation or subnutrition.
• The manifested physical effects of malnutrition are called deficiency diseases.
• The tool used to determine malnutrition is called the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST).
• Also called:
  • inanition
  • malnourishment
  • undernourishment

Related Videos

Additional Information

• Food and Agriculture Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Medical Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “malnutrition” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Carolan, Michael S. 2012. The Sociology of Food and Agriculture. London: Routledge.
• Lutzker, John R., and Joav Merrick, eds. 2012. Applied Public Health: Examining Multifaceted Social or Ecological Problems and Child Maltreatment. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Biomedical.
• Mahoney, Carolyn. 2015. Health, Food and Social Inequality: Critical Perspectives on the Supply and Marketing of Food. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis.
  
• Pond, Wilson G., Buford L. Nichols, and Dan L. Brown, eds. 2009. Adequate Food for All: Culture, Science, and Technology of Food in the 21st Century. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Related Terms

• acute disease
• chronic disease
• disease
• disorder
• endemic disease
• epidemiology
• population
• poverty

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Works Consulted

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 5th ed. 2011. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Bender, David A. 2014. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.

Kent, Michael. 2007. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Last, John M, ed. 2007. A Dictionary of Public Health. New York: Oxford University Press.

Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).

Martin, Elizabeth, ed. 2010. Concise Medical Dictionary. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Martin, Elizabeth, and Robert Hine, eds. 2008. A Dictionary of Biology. 6th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Park, Chris C.. 2007. A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Malnutrition

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “malnutrition.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved November 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/malnutrition/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

malnutrition. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/malnutrition/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “malnutrition.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed November 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/malnutrition/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“malnutrition.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/malnutrition/>.