malnutrition
A condition caused by not getting enough food or not getting the right kind of food, leading to poor health.
writing-task-2readingspeakingHealthGovernment and society
IELTS use
Useful for discussing public health problems, food insecurity, and the social or economic effects of poor nutrition in Task 2 essays and Reading passages.
Examples
- Malnutrition among children in low-income regions often leads to long-term cognitive and physical development problems.
- Governments should invest in agricultural programmes to reduce malnutrition in rural communities.
- The charity report showed that malnutrition rates have fallen by 20% over the past decade.
- I think many health problems start with malnutrition, especially in poorer areas.
Collocations
- child malnutrition
- Child malnutrition remains a major challenge in many developing countries.
- severe malnutrition
- Severe malnutrition requires immediate medical intervention.
- malnutrition rates
- Malnutrition rates have decreased significantly since the new food policy was introduced.
- combat malnutrition
- International organizations are working together to combat malnutrition in the region.
- reduce malnutrition
- Education and better access to food can help reduce malnutrition.
Word family
- Noun
- malnutrition
- Adjective
- malnourished
Paraphrases
- poor nutrition: A more general term that can include both undernutrition and overnutrition.
- undernutrition: Emphasises the lack of sufficient food, often used in scientific contexts.
- inadequate diet: Focuses on the quality of food rather than quantity.
Common mistakes
- Malnourishment is a big problem in the country. to Malnutrition is a big problem in the country.. "Malnutrition" is the standard noun; "malnourishment" is very rarely used and sounds unnatural.
- Many children suffer from malnutritions. to Many children suffer from malnutrition.. Malnutrition is an uncountable noun and does not take a plural form.
- He is malnutrition. to He is malnourished.. Use the adjective "malnourished" to describe a person, not the noun.
- Malnutrition is caused by not eat enough food. to Malnutrition is caused by not eating enough food.. After a preposition like "by", use the gerund form "eating" instead of "eat".