Nutritional disorders

1.Kwashiorkor:This is a protein  deficiency  disorder. It is the most widely spread type of malnutrition. It commonly affects infants and children between 1-3 years of age.

Symptoms: The common symptoms of Kwashiorkor are  under weight, stunted growth, poor brain development, loss of appetite, anaemia, protruding belly, slender legs and bulging eyes. Oedema  of  lower legs and face and change in skin and hair color may also occur in  Kwashiorkor.

Causes: The basic causes includes;(i) protein deficient or inadequate diet due to ignorance and poverty (ii) infectious diseases such as  Diarrhoea ,  measles,   respiratory  infections, intestinal worms, which weaken the child. In addition to these there are some contributory factors for the disease that includes the ill-spacing of the children, large family, poor maternal  health, early termination of the breast feeding, late introduction of the supplementary diet, and adverse practices of child rearing such as the use of over-diluted cow^, s milk.

Cure: The proteins are essential for the growth and repair of the tissues and also for the  body  defence.  Therefore adequate amount  of proteins must be present in the diet. For normal health ,daily diet should contain one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight in the case of adults  and about  two grams of protein per kilogram in the case of growing children. The source of  protein are cereals,pulses,meat,fish,milk cheese,leafy vegetables,ground nut,peas and beans.

2.Marasmus:This is a form of prolonged Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM). It affects the infants under one year of age.

Causes:  Marasmus  is caused by simultaneous deficiency of proteins and total food calorific value that is deficiency of all nutrients. It affects the infant if the mother milk is replaced  too early with foods having low protein content and calorific value. This often happen when the mother conceives before her infant is ready for weaning.

Symptoms: Due to protein deficient  diet ,stored  fats  and tissue proteins are used as sources of energy. This impairs physical growth and retards mental  development. Subcutaneous fat disappears, ribs become very prominent, limbs become thin and skin becomes dry ,thin  and wrinkled. There is emaciation (extreme leanness) and loss of weight. Digestion and absorption of food stops due to atrophy of digestive glands and intestinal  mucosa. This leads to Diarrhoea.

Cure: Diet with adequate proteins and proper caloric value should be given to the infants. Severe malnutrition impairs immune system and makes the victim very susceptible to respiratory  and gastrointestinal  infections. Malnutrition with immunodeficiency and infections is the  world ^,s  leading cause of infants and child deaths.