What is atrophic malnutrition (Marasmus)?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Dr., Doctor Phan Nguyen Thanh Binh - Head of the Department of Nutrition - Dietetics - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.
Marasmus is one of the severe forms of malnutrition in children. In this form of malnutrition, children weigh 60% less or lose up to -4SD compared to the normal weight of children of the same age. Children are emaciated, bone inert, skin covered with bones, faces like old people because there is no fat layer under the skin, abdomen, buttocks and cheeks. Manifestations in children with malnutrition are quite obvious.

1. What is atrophic malnutrition?

There are many reasons that lead to malnutrition in children. Some of the main reasons can be mentioned as follows:
Children are not breastfed, poor feeding conditions, must supplement other substances instead of breast milk such as porridge, diluted powder, ... Substitute foods and foods with very little glucose. Children are breastfed but from the 4th month onwards, the mother does not give the baby any extra flour, green vegetables, fruits, fats and proteins outside. Or maybe the child is given other complementary foods but lacks the fats needed to provide the energy that is important for growth. Children suffering from diseases such as measles, diarrhea, ... are not treated definitively, combined with the mother to force the child to abstain from eating properly. Children have a prolonged fever, expend energy without care and make up for a lack of energy for a long time.

Clinical signs that children are at risk, signs of atrophic malnutrition that parents can recognize include:
Children have symptoms of deficiency of vitamins A, B1, B12, D, K , ... at the initial level is milder than edema. Atrophic malnutrition without symptoms of hepatomegaly due to fatty degeneration, liver function of children is less affected. Children are less threatened with heart failure because the level of protein deficiency, anemia, K+ deficiency, and B1 deficiency is milder than signs of edematous malnutrition. Children with digestive disorders, mild diarrhea. Children show signs of fatigue, indifference to the external environment. Children may have an appetite or loss of appetite, and have signs of diarrhea with raw, liquid stools.

2. Consequences of atrophic malnutrition

Malnutrition in atrophy in particular and malnutrition in general causes unpredictable and dangerous consequences for children's development. Malnourished children will show signs of mental retardation, mental retardation, low weight for their age, and poorer cognition than their peers of the same age. The condition affects children into adulthood and can lead to a number of chronic illnesses during development and into adulthood.
Accordingly, according to research, statistics show that malnourished children often suffer from diarrhea and pneumonia, which significantly affects children's intellectual development, behavior and learning ability as well as their ability to learn. work capacity and health in adulthood.
Specifically, malnutrition can cause pathological damage and common metabolic disorders such as:
The liver is often at risk of degeneration, in the form of atrophy malnutrition, complete liver damage can occur. can be treated and rehabilitated in a timely manner. The digestive organs of malnourished children can be damaged by pancreatic cells, the intestinal mucosa is atrophied, causing digestive pathological conditions during adulthood in children. Cardiovascular system may atrophy, cardiac output decreases, severe cases also show signs of cold extremities, cyanosis, small pulse difficult to catch, high probability of death, can be recovered but the sequelae left quite hazardous. The brain and nervous system are affected, the indicators of intellectual development are poor, abnormal compared to normal children. The immune system of malnourished children is significantly reduced, this condition increases the rate of infections in malnourished children. Metabolic disorders such as glucose, lipid, protein, water and electrolyte metabolism will occur in malnourished children during development.

3. Measures to prevent atrophic malnutrition

In order for children to have a comprehensive development and not be malnourished, parents need to know how to prevent and take care of their children with the following measures:
Nutritional and nutritional care for pregnant and lactating mothers. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, breastfeeding lasts until 18-24 months old, at least 12 months old. Implement reasonable complementary feeding, sufficient energy, balanced nutrients suitable for each stage of the child's development. Ensure the nutritional needs of children increase with age. Ensure adequate vitamin A supplementation for children and mothers after giving birth. Practice proper feeding when the child is sick. Hygiene care, helminth prevention for children. Ideal practice on how to raise children scientifically, properly. To prevent and improve malnutrition in children, parents should supplement with supporting products containing lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, and B vitamins to help meet their full needs. meet the nutritional needs of the child. At the same time, these essential vitamins also support digestion, enhance nutrient absorption, help improve anorexia, and help children eat well. Parents can also apply dietary supplements and functional foods derived from nature for easy absorption by the baby. The most important thing is that the improvement of the baby's symptoms must take place over the long term. The combination of many types of functional foods at the same time or continuously changing many types in a short time can cause the baby's digestive system not to adapt and completely not good. Therefore, parents must be really persistent with their children and regularly visit the website vimec.com to update useful baby care information.