Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a state of poor nutrition covering both undernutrition, insufficient intake of calories, protein or micronutrients to meet the body's needs, and overnutrition, an excess that leads to obesity and diet-related disease, so that a population can carry a heavy burden of malnutrition even where average food supply looks adequate. Agricultural policy bears on malnutrition through what crops a farming system produces, how affordable and accessible the resulting food is, and how well it delivers not just calories but the vitamins and minerals a diet needs.