Translation guide
The condition of not getting enough nutrients, either from not eating enough or from poor diet quality.
Describing the state of being malnourished, often due to insufficient food or poor diet.
Emphasizing extreme lack of food leading to emaciation or starvation.
Starvation or famine. Refers to severe lack of food, often on a large scale.
When the body cannot absorb nutrients properly, even if food intake is adequate.
Malabsorption. Often used in medical contexts when the digestive system fails to absorb nutrients.
吸収不良症候群と診断された。
I was diagnosed with malabsorption syndrome.
栄養失調 is the most direct translation of 'malnutrition' and is widely understood. 栄養不良 emphasizes poor quality of diet, while 低栄養 is a technical term for undernutrition, often used in geriatric or public health contexts.
Do not try to translate 'mal-' directly with prefixes like 悪い (warui) or 不 (fu) in this context. The established terms are 栄養失調 and 栄養不良.
The standard medical and general term for malnutrition. Refers to a state where the body is not getting adequate nutrition.
彼は栄養失調で入院した。
He was hospitalized for malnutrition.
Literally 'poor nutrition'. Often used in contexts of inadequate diet quality rather than quantity, but can overlap with malnutrition.
栄養不良が原因で病気になった。
I got sick due to poor nutrition.
Literally 'undernutrition'. Often used in medical or public health contexts to describe insufficient intake of calories or nutrients.
高齢者の低栄養が問題になっている。
Undernutrition among the elderly is becoming a problem.
飢餓で多くの人が亡くなった。
Many people died of starvation.
Death from starvation. Used when malnutrition leads to death.
餓死する人が後を絶たない。
There is a constant stream of people dying of starvation.