Can Obesity and Malnutrition Coexist?

Summary: Although it is paradoxical, the majority of obese people are living with malnutrition. It means that they have a deficiency of one or another vital nutrient. This not only increases their risk of developing chronic ailments but also increases the risk of complications associated with invasive medical procedures.

 This question is highly relevant, especially in the context of the US, since it is among the fattest nations. In the US, 70% of adults are either overweight or obese. So, these individuals represent the majority of the adult population.

However, the term malnutrition is generally associated with poor or developing nations. It means nations where underweight is a problem, where many people are starving and living with severe nutritional deficiencies.

When it comes to obesity it occurs due to excessive calorie intake. Since the keyword here is “excessive,” people immediately reject the notion that obese people may be living with malnutrition or nutritional deficiencies. However, a significant number of US adults are living with one or another kind of nutritional deficiency.

Understanding this matters since overweight or obese adults are more likely to develop chronic health issues and undergo various elective surgeries. This means that if malnutrition is not recognized in this population group, they might develop various health complications that might otherwise be prevented through timely intervention or correcting their nutritional status.

Obesity is about excessive calorie intake. It is not a balanced diet. It is not about adequate intake of vital nutrients. Obesity means excessive body fat accumulation. However, below these fat tissues may be a physically and biologically weak body—a body with low muscle mass, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and much more.

It is vital to understand that malnutrition is not merely or essentially about calorie deficit. Malnutrition is about “unbalanced intake of nutrients, wrong dietary choices, causing impaired use or levels of various nutrients.”

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It is also essential to understand that in the world, less than half a billion people are underweight. However, about 2 billion individuals are overweight or obese. And all of them are considered to be living with malnutrition. So, these days, malnutrition is more common in Individuals who are overweight or obese.

Although all obese people must be considered as living with malnutrition, about 40-60% of them are living with known nutritional deficiencies. They often have low dietary fiber intake, deficiency of various vitamins and minerals, chronic inflammation, high cholesterol, higher blood glucose levels, and much more.

Researchers call obesity “a paradoxical state of malnutrition.” Due to higher calorie intake, it is expected that they might have a normal or excessive intake of various nutrients. However, this is far from true. Studies confirm that obese people are more likely to be living with different nutritional deficiencies compared to normal body weight adults.

It is time that everyone, doctors and overweight individuals, start realizing that obesity and malnutrition frequently coexist. This is one of the most overlooked facts when managing various health conditions in overweight individuals.

Obese people are living with malnutrition, and they are more likely to experience various health issues, from diabetes to heart attack and joint disorders. They are also much more likely to undergo various invasive treatments and procedures, including major surgeries. 

Therefore, for improving treatment outcomes in these patients, it is vital to focus on correcting nutritional deficiencies in these individuals. If nutritional deficiencies are not corrected, it results in poor treatment outcomes and a greater risk of complications associated with various procedures.

Most obese people may still remain overweight or obese, even after treatments like surgical interventions. However, they are living with low muscle mass and low protein intake and might also have a deficiency of various vitamins and minerals. Thus, special care must be taken to correct the nutritional status of obese or overweight individuals before any major surgical intervention or invasive treatment.

Many of these surgeries, like knee replacement surgeries, are much more common in obese people. Such surgeries are elective or planned surgeries. This means that there is ample time to correct nutritional deficiencies in these individuals. It is essential to realize that uncorrected nutritional deficiency is an independent risk factor for treatment-related complications, particularly for surgical interventions.