The changing pattern of malnutrition

Together with the changing environment (urbanisatior of the rural population, industrialization, loss of taditional pattern of life), malnutrition in the young will probably change from the pre‐school kwashiorkor‐type to the infant marasmus‐type. Because of the complex nature of the factors conditioning this change, purely nutritional measures cannot be expected to cope with infant malnutrition as it is seen today in the fast‐growing urban agglomerations of the economically underdeveloped countries. Early malnutrition carries the risk of permanent physical and mental damage. If it is not prevented, affected populations could have a greater impairment of their physical and mental capabilities which could prove to be an unsurmountable obstacle to the progress of the developing nations.