Malnutrition In Health And Social Care

In this assignment I will be describing the characteristics of nutrients and the benefits to the body.

This assignment will discuss a trust adapted version of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). It will demonstrate an understanding of theoretical knowledge used to develop the assessment tool. The assignment will focus on three components within the tool; discussing the reliability and validity when used in a clinical environment. A reflection of my own experience using the tool will be included and linked to aspects of reliability. Any issues with reliability will be identified and suggestions given on how they can be corrected to aid future use.

Malnutrition is when an individual is lacking proper nutrition. Children throughout the world are affected by malnutrition from not receiving proper breast feeding after birth to not receiving the correct nutritious food a child needs to grow. Malnutrition can stunt a child’s growth, cause defects to a child’s immune system, making it more likely for the child to die from a common flu or bug. Malnutrition has been affecting many individuals lives since the 1800s. Malnutrition affected more people back then due to the lack of information on what food to eat to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For example, we did not know about germs back then, so it was very unsanitary making it easier for germs to be shared

Mother of five, Cynthia, has a steady job at a nursing home as well as a supportive husband yet struggles to feed her family on a daily basis. Like many other Americans she does not qualify for government assistance because she makes too much; in her case thirty eight dollars too much. In cases like Cynthia’s, options seem incredibly limited and there is often no assistance for feeding her family (abcnews). Over 12 million children under the age of eighteen in the United States are food insecure. Meaning they are unable to consistently access adequate amounts of nutritious food necessary for a healthy life. More than three million children under the age of five are food insecure (Insecurity2012).

Nurses use the enhanced nutritional care by screening the patient using the “Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool” (MUST) to discover if patients are malnourished, deciding on what to do prevent the patient from malnutrition by monitoring and observing the patient when they eat, improving their preference of food to make sure patients have a balanced diet, and evaluating if patients are eating what they receive from nurses and if they are properly nourished. The RCN’s “Nutrition Now” campaign has made preventing malnutrition a goal by creating principles, such as being responsible for making changes to nutrition and hydration care plans, since “nutrition is essential for life, as vital as medication and other types of treatment” (Royal College of Nursing, 2016). Using the enhanced nutritional care principles, the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force created the Integrated Nutritional Pathway for Acute Care (INPAC) algorithm for discovering, treating and monitoring patients who are malnourished in acute

Increased mortality rate (incidence of mortality of malnourished patients at 1 year being nearly 30% in 1 Australian study8)

Malnutrition is when the body doesn’t receive enough nutrients for proper function. Undernutrition is when one’s body could be underweight, too short for their age, or excessively thin and “receiving fewer calories than the minimum dietary energy requirement” (Withcott & Laposata, 2012). Overnutrition is a form of malnutrition but comes from eating too much, eating junk, lack of physical activities or just eating the wrong foods and the intake too many supplements. “Overnutrition leads to unhealthy weight gain, which leads to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems” (Withcott & Laposata, 2012). One is of the opinion that overnutrition is the most common in the United States. In our textbook by Withcott & Laposata, in the

While reading chapter one of the book “Nutrition Essentials for Nursing Practice” (2014), I developed interest on the physical symptoms suggestive of malnutrition. According to Susan G. Dudek a nursing diagnosis has to be based on a patient first nutritional assessment (p.9-11). Dudek stated in her book the four steps of a nutritional care process in which assessment is the primary stage of this concept. However, since the word assessment incorporates the patients physical findings, poor or delayed wound sores can be determine by the inadequate malnutrition of a human being (2014).

"Older adults are particularly at risk for malnutrition due to changes in their bodies as they age and the medications they take, which can affect their ability to absorb vital nutrients." (Kathleen Cameron, Senior Director of NCOA's Center for Healthy Aging). Some problems that can be caused by malnutrition are a weak immune system, poor wound healing, and muscle weakness.

The market’s demand for Bolivian people to be healthier. Malnutrition is crippling Bolivia,. Malnutrition poses the greatest risk to pregnant women and young children. Healthier populations have lower fertility rates, higher labor productivity, and national investment over time. Improvements in health set in motion rising family incomes and usually poverty reduction Twenty-five percent of Bolivian children under the age of three years old have or currently suffering from malnutrition. Malnutrition for children in the poorest households is 40 percent.

Due to the cramped living conditions, poor hygiene, and shortage of food, sickness and disease circulated below the decks of the slave ships. One of the most significant physical health problems was malnutrition. The quantity and quality of food were both inadequate, as the ship crews did not want to squander resources to purchase proper nutrition. Items, such as fresh meat and fruits, added an additional expense that would cut deep into the captain’s pocket. Food, onboard the slave ships, was substandard. The African slaves’ diet consisted primarily of horse beans, yams, and rice. The slaves evidently did not have much to consume, which ultimately affected their bodies’ ability to repel infections:

Malnutrition continues to be a major health burden throughout the developing world, especially in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Each form of malnutrition depends on what nutrients are missing in the diet, for how long and at what age. The most basic kind results from a deficiency in all major macronutrients, such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates, called protein-energy malnutrition. Other forms of malnutrition are less obvious, but not necessarily less deadly. They are usually the result of a diet lacking in micronutrients, such as electrolytes, minerals and vitamins. Deficiencies of iron, vitamin A and zinc are ranked among the World Health Organization's top 10 leading causes of death through disease in developing countries. (WFP,

Malnutrition is not the only thing that effects children universally as they age. This is because children who are “living in poverty are deprived of…sanitation facilities, access to basic health-care services, shelter, education, participation, and protection,” (Gordan 281.) This strips children who live in poverty, the rights that they deserve and need in order to excel academically, as well as partake in their society as a full fledge member. With such limited resources for these children, it is no wonder that they can not rise above their poverty and do better for themselves and others. They will, just like their parents, be dragged into the vicious cycle of poverty that offers no way out for those inside. The horrible truth of child poverty,

      Physiological changes and changes in nutritional requirements are not the only cause of elderly malnutrition.  Illness and physical limitations often affect nutritional status, as 19.7% of people over age 65 have at least one disability and 28.8% reported a limitation caused by a chronic condition (9).  For

For most us Americans, knowing when we’re going to eat next is something we very rarely think of, and when we do think about being hungry we still know where our food is coming from. Three big meals a day, and a few snacks in between, is how most of us live. It’s hard for us to imagine what its like for those who go days eating very little or nothing at all. But unfortunately that’s how it is for most of the world and surprisingly it happens in the United Sates as well. There are many reasons malnutrition can happen, and it happens to every age group. Even though there are many ways to treat it, in the