Malnutrition costs the UK twice as much as obesity and its no different here.

By Dominique Patton, 14-Dec-2005      Related topics: Research

People that are undernourished, or losing weight unintentionally, cost UK health services more than twice as much as obese people, suggests a new report, yet they receive less attention from the government.
While the obesity epidemic is debated by the media on an almost daily basis, and public health policy increasingly seeks to encourage people to eat less, people that are underweight often go unnoticed, says Professor Marinos Elia, author of the new report.
"This is the first formal evaluation of the costs of undernutrition," he told NutraIngredients.com.
Malnutrition can be defined as a deficiency, excess or imbalance of nutrients that causes adverse effects on wellbeing and body function. It mostly affects elderly people and often co-exists with disease, in turn common as we age.