According to Waterlow criteria, what are the four levels of malnutrition?

• A. Level 1-4
• B. Normal, underweight, overweight, obese
• C. Normal, mild, moderate, and severe
• D. Underweight, normal, overweight, obese

Answer: (C)

Waterlow’s approach classifies nutritional status into four levels that reflect increasing severity of undernutrition, with normal status at one end and severe malnutrition at the other. The four levels are normal, mild malnutrition, moderate malnutrition, and severe malnutrition. This scheme incorporates measurements like weight relative to height (and age) and the presence of edema to determine how severely nutrition is compromised. The other option types describe different classification schemes (levels, BMI-based categories, or simple underweight/overweight/obese groupings) and don’t align with how Waterlow defines malnutrition severity.