"Risk approach" for reducing malnutrition in children from a privileged community

Of 279 children, below the age of 5 years, studied from January to March 1984, 30% had some degree of malnutrition. Risk factors like low birth weight, low family income, previous attacks of diarrhoea and absent or inadequate breast feeding were found to have a strong association with malnutrition. In the "Well Baby Clinic", extra attention was given to the children having those risk factors. Nutritional status determined after 2 years showed that though there was no reduction in the overall percentage of malnourished children but the degree of severity of malnutrition definitely decreased.