Malnutrition et sous-alimentation

Malnutrition is a pathological state caused by the excess or the defect on one of more nutriments. It can be a deficiency in vitamins, proteins (protein defect and kwashiorkor), minerals or oligo-elements. Main defecting vitamins belong to group B (B1, B2, B3, B9 and B12), also the lipophilic vitamins, i.e. vitamins A, D and E, plus vitamin C. The oligo-elements which can be defecting in nutrition are mainly iodine, iron, copper, zinc and selenium. Malnutrition with excess in qualitative or quantitative intakes is a disease of rich countries with excessive consumption of fats, rather saturated fats, of sugars, mainly fast sugars, and of salt, all of them being risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and metabolic abnormalities. Under-nourishment concerns sectors in the world where war, epidemic, and dryness are expanding that corresponds to “visible hunger” which nevertheless seems to decrease from 20 years. This visible hunger should not hide the “hidden hunger” with many defects such as in minerals (mainly iodine and iron) or vitamins (A and E essentially) ; children and women are particularly concerned. As the WHO said, the mortality related to under-nourishment gradually increases reaching more than 36 million of individuals in 2006 in the world. Moreover, cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of death in occidental countries and seem to increase in developing countries.