ABSTRACT
Some diseases which seem explicable in terms of nutrient deficiencies are distressingly widespread. The documentation for India's sixth five-year plan quotes lack of vitamin A in diets as the cause of widespread xerophthalmia, leading to blindness in the most severe cases. Socio-economic surveys were initiated to investigate the background of the children with low weights and heights further. In Nepal, the majority of the rain falls during the summer months. The maize harvest starts in July; the rice harvest on farms with irrigated lands is complete by late November or early December. What is needed is a systematic procedure for identifying the various contributory causes of malnutrition and of comprehending the nature of their interactions. Feeding or other programmes which 'cure' malnutrition of the poor would therefore be expected to prevent its recurrence in the future, since productivity would be increased, and the circle broken.
