Excellent question. At least, since the work of Michael Golden the term PEM is not appropriate anymore. In German textbooks I write 'global malnutrition' meaning all nutrients are to be kept in mind when a child develops kwashiorkor or marasmus.
The tribute to the late John Waterlow and his great work is understandable who created the term PEM. But this was more than 50 years back.
We should really be aware of the manifold signs and symptoms and the pathophysiology of severe childhood malnutrition and leave the term PEM behind.

Hi Mija--Terminology certainly strays from its intended purpose. I thought we first abandoned PCM (Protein Calorie Malnutrition) only to turn to the marginally better PEM. Like you, I keep seeing PEM in papers. Similarly, 'malnutrition' is still applied in blanket-fashion to all nutrition-related deficits regardless of their nature or consequences. I suspect this situation arises in part because so many different academic disciplines are now writing papers on nutrition when the authors lack a background in nutrition.

But let me add one of my favorites. Thanks largely to economically illiterate journalists, almost everyone these days uses the phrase standard of living to mean the level at which people are living....rather than the level at which they should be living. This is wrong. Standards of living are standards--like defined poverty lines, income levels, etc.--similar to the -2 z-score as a standard for the undernutrition threshold.

Excuse my hobby horse!
Bill

Thank you for sharing this concern Mija. I also have the same sentiment and I think it would be helpful if an article on the evolution through time of these terminologies be crafted or shared (if there is any) to a wider audience.

This is just a thought.
Derich

Hello, I regularly read comments on various topics, but this one is worth an intervention. Nutrition in the years 1992 - 1993 used the term PEM to differentiate between the two known types of malnutrition, namely Marasmus and Kwashiorkor. With evolution, it was discovered that this malnutrition was not only Protein-energetic, but multideficiency. Today, the term malnutrition is confusing, so it is better to use the term undernutrition.

Hello,
I have the impression that many use these old terms largely for lack of information on the scientific and nutritional evolution of the subject. Especially in humanitarian interventions where the actors are very busy on the ground. What will our friends who work in pediatric services say.
Mohamane