Imagine going a day without eating. You become tired and powerless and feel a hunger in your stomach, but you can still cope. But then comes another day and another. Eventually, your body starts to shut down. It goes into power-saving mode. The body reduces its needs. It's smart that way, says Mia Hejdenberg, medical humanitarian advisor at Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
In the early stages of starvation, you feel tired and powerless. Then, your body starts to prioritize.
Losing Muscle Mass
When the body doesn't get nutrients, it loses muscle mass, which makes you weak and gets tired more easily. I've seen four-year-olds who can no longer walk because they've lost muscle strength, says Anneli Eriksson, nurse and research specialist at the Department of Global Public Health at Karolinska Institutet.
Mia Hejdenberg explains that the body loses several functions and the heart is affected.
You get anemia and fewer red blood cells, which makes it difficult to transport oxygen around the body. It focuses more on life-sustaining functions and shuts down everything else.
Distorted Salt Levels in the Blood
Several organs go into power-saving mode when the body starves, for example, the kidneys' ability to filter as they should deteriorates.
You can get elevated sodium levels at the same time as potassium levels decrease. At the same time, diarrhea can make the levels become low. It's common with disturbances, that the salt levels in the blood simply become distorted, says Anneli Eriksson, who has worked with malnourished children for many years.
Children often get diarrhea, but you can't just start giving them regular fluid replacement, because then they risk accumulating too much fluid. In combination with the heart not being able to pump as it normally should, the child risks developing a life-threatening condition.
Children with severe acute malnutrition lack muscles and fat, and the body therefore has difficulty maintaining the right temperature. Hypothermia – too low body temperature – is a life-threatening condition. Even too low blood sugar, hypoglycemia, is a risk in malnourished children.
Children More Vulnerable
An adult can survive up to three weeks without food, although it varies from individual to individual. Children are much more vulnerable, especially children under five years old. A malnourished child can have problems even later in life since the nutrient deficiency can affect their physical and cognitive abilities.
But Anneli Eriksson emphasizes that children often have the ability to recover if the conditions change.
They can go from being completely emaciated to being normal and being out and playing and running around in a relatively short time, she.
They can get their lives back.
Footnote: The text is a shortened and rewritten version of an article published on May 13, 2024.
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Famine is measured on a five-level scale where the first level is when all households have a functioning food supply. Sweden is at that level.
Level two is the next step. Then, the situation is a bit strained. You have secured the minimum requirements for food, but you may not be able to afford some things.
At the third level, you have difficulty meeting your needs when it comes to food and use everything you have. This is called the crisis phase.
The fourth level is severe malnutrition. There are large food shortages and high levels of malnutrition as a result. Increased mortality related to malnutrition occurs.
The fifth level is the final step – famine. It is extreme food shortage and basic needs cannot be met. Mortality is high.
Source: Doctors Without Borders
