Marasmus is the state which virtually all available body fat stores have been exhausted because of starvation. It results in a reduction in body weight adjusted for age and size.
It is the commonest severe form of PEM (protein energy malnutrition) and tends to occur earlier in life than kwashiorkor, usually within the first year. It is common in all overpopulated and impoverished areas of the world.
Children living in poverty simply do not have enough to eat. They subsist on diluted cereal drinks that supply scant energy and protein of low quality; such food can barely sustain life, much less support growth.
Illnesses that produce marasmus is developed countries are chronic and indolent, such as cancer, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and chronic pulmonary disease.
Marasmus is easy to detect because of the patient’s emaciated appearance: marasmic children look like little old people – just ‘skin and bones’.
Protein energy malnutrition: Marasmus
