Question

How can you determine if an obese individual is malnourished?

Answer 1

Malnourishment means poor nutrition. It can be undernutrition or overnutrition. People usually have a misconception that undernutrition i.e. not getting enough nutrients is malnutrition, but overnutrition i.e. excess of nutrients in the body which leads to obesity is also a kind of malnutrition. Hence, malnutrition refers to the condition when the body doesn’t get the right amount of nutrients. Nutritional status is not a body mass index (BMI).

Some signs and symptoms of an obese person to be malnourished are –

• If the diet contains a high amount of calories in the diet and low nutrients.
• Failure to grow at normal rate and mood swings as well as irritability in children.
• An obese person can get weight due to excess of water or edema but that does not mean he/she have proper nutrition.
• Diabetes, strokes, feeling tired all the time.
• Increases risk of illness or infections.