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What is malnutrition?
The term ‘malnutrition’ means ‘badly nourished’ and can be used to describe both over and undernutrition. However, the term
is used mainly to describe undernutrition. A child is said to be undernourished
when she is too thin for her height (wasted), too light for his age (underweight)
or too short for his age (stunted).
Q. Look at the children below. Using the information shown, select the
option which best describes the children’s nutritional status. For
more info, visit the Community.
Name: Mary
Age: 3 yrs 1 mnth
Sex: female
Height: 80.2cm
Weight: 14.6kg
Weight-for-height: >+3SD
Height-for-age: <-3SD (<3rd centile)
Age: 3 yrs 1 mnth
Sex: female
Height: 80.2cm
Weight: 14.6kg
Weight-for-height: >+3SD
Height-for-age: <-3SD (<3rd centile)
Name: Fatima
Age: 1 yr 8 mnths
Sex: female
Length: 67.0cm
Weight: 6.5kg
Weight-for-length: btwn -1SD & -2SD
Weight-for-age: <-3SD (<1st centile)
Age: 1 yr 8 mnths
Sex: female
Length: 67.0cm
Weight: 6.5kg
Weight-for-length: btwn -1SD & -2SD
Weight-for-age: <-3SD (<1st centile)
Name: Sheema
Age: 2 yrs 0 mnth
Sex: female
Length: 67.0cm
Weight: 3.9kg
Weight-for-length: <-4SD
Height-for-age: <-3SD (<1st centile)
Age: 2 yrs 0 mnth
Sex: female
Length: 67.0cm
Weight: 3.9kg
Weight-for-length: <-4SD
Height-for-age: <-3SD (<1st centile)
Name: Kofi
Age: 4 yrs 6 mnths
Sex: male
Height: 110.0cm
Weight: 18.5kg
Weight-for-height: Median
Height-for-age: 80th centile
Age: 4 yrs 6 mnths
Sex: male
Height: 110.0cm
Weight: 18.5kg
Weight-for-height: Median
Height-for-age: 80th centile
Feedback 
Incorrect!
Mary is stunted (height-for-age is <-3SD). Fatima is underweight (weight-for-age <-3SD), and also stunted (length-for-age <-3SD). She is not wasted as her weight-for-length is within the normal range. Sheema is wasted (weight-for-length: <-4SD) and stunted (height-for-age <-3SD), and Kofi is normal.Please select an option from each drop down box.
