Health - Nutrition. Malnutrition: How to spot the first signs early?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), while malnutrition encompasses " all deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person's energy and/or nutrient intake ," undernutrition occurs when food intake is insufficient to meet nutritional needs. It is therefore a form of malnutrition, which includes:

• emaciation, that is, a low weight/height ratio;
• growth retardation, or a low height-to-age ratio;
• underweight or low weight-for-age ratio.

While younger populations (children, adolescents) can also be affected, malnutrition particularly affects the elderly . Indeed, with age, appetite can decrease while nutritional needs do not change. The potential consequence is a weakening of the body that can lead to a loss of autonomy or even dependency.

The first signs

However, malnutrition is not inevitable, and it is still important to recognize the early signs in order to treat it as early as possible. Namely:

• Recent and involuntary weight loss . For example: a weight loss of 5% or more in one month should raise alarm bells. This represents, for example, 3.5 kg for a person weighing 70 kg. From the outside, certain markers appear suggestive, such as clothes that are becoming too large, a belt that needs to be tightened an extra notch, or a wedding ring that no longer fits on the finger;
• loss of appetite ;
• a reduction in the portions taken at each meal;
• a reduction in the number of meals per day.

As the government states on a dedicated page , " it is during the first kilos lost that it is easiest to reverse the trend. It is therefore advisable to weigh yourself regularly in order to detect abnormal weight loss or gain ." And to conclude, " in the event of abnormal weight loss, it is important to make an appointment with your doctor ."