How is malnutrition treated?
Undernutrition is treated with nutritional supplements. This might mean individual micronutrients, or it might mean refeeding with a custom, high-calorie nutritional formula designed to restore everything your body is missing. Severe undernutrition can take weeks of refeeding to correct. But refeeding can be dangerous, especially in the first few days. Your body changes in many ways to adapt to undernutrition. Refeeding asks it to change back to its old way of operating, and sometimes that change is more than it’s prepared to handle. It’s best to begin refeeding under close medical observation to prevent and manage the complications of refeeding syndrome, which can be serious and even life-threatening.
Overnutrition is generally treated with weight loss, diet and lifestyle changes. Losing extra weight can help reduce your risk of developing secondary conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Weight loss treatment may include diet and exercise plans, medications or medical procedures. You may also need to treat an underlying condition, such as thyroid disease, or a mental health disorder. Weight loss can be rapid or it can be long and gradual, depending on the path you take. But after you lose weight, it’s the lifestyle changes you stick with that will help keep it off. This may involve long-term support systems such as counseling, behavioral therapy, support groups and education in nutrition
