1.4 What is malnutrition?
Malnutrition is any physical condition resulting either from an inappropriate or inadequate diet,
such as a diet that either provides too much or too little of necessary nutrients, or from a physical
inability to absorb or metabolize nutrients (5). Malnutrition can be related to various factors, such
as infections which lead to poor appetite and malabsorption (59), poverty, and lack of access to
food, sanitation and/or health services. Malnutrition negatively affects the quality of life and
learning as well as death and disease status. A listing of important conditions of malnutrition which
affect preschool- and school-age children is presented in Annex 1.