A. What is good nutrition?

Good nutrition refers to a healthy status of a person in regard to food consumption. It results mainly from adequate diets respectively the quality of different food products consumed. However, especially health and hygiene factors influence strongly the nutritional status of a person as they have a strong impact on digestion and how the body is able to uptake the ingested nutrients.

B. What is malnutrition and undernutrition?

Malnutrition refers to a catch-all term to describe a suboptimal nutritional status. It is little specific as it includes all manifestations of undernutrition and “overnutrition” (i.e. overweight and obesity).

Undernutrition relates to inadequate intake and/or absorption of calories and essential nutrients. To be more precise in regard to causes and manifestations of undernutrition, the following terms are used:

• Acute undernutrition is the result of recent and acute nutrient deficiency. This leads to low weight compared to height ( wasting).
• Chronic undernutrition refers to insufficient nutrient intake over time. This leads to low height compared to age ( stunting).
• Underweight expresses an unfavorable status of weight compared to age (children) and Body Mass Index (adults).
• Micronutrient deficiency relates to an insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals, e.g. iron and Vit A). Micronutrient deficiency often occur alongside with other undernutrition symptoms.