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
Syllabification: mal·nu·tri·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /mal-nu-trIsh-uhn/
- British English – /mal-nyu-trIsh-uhn/
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
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 June 5, 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 June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/malnutrition/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“malnutrition.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/malnutrition/>.