title: Malnutrition: a closer look at the problem in an East African village.
abstract: Assessments were made of 20 severely malnourished children under three years of age in a relatively prosperous village in East Africa. These included medical, perinatal, social, economic and behavioural/developmental histories, as well as physical and developmental evaluations. The findings are presented in relation to data from a longitudinal study of child development from this same site and from large nutrition surveys of the same area. The specific historical factors and behavioural profiles found to occur with high frequency among the malnourished children are discussed. They suggest a common etiology with other disorders of attachment--child abuse, nonorganic failure to thrive, and the 'vulnerable child' syndrome. These commonalities are explored, and possible mechanisms in the emergence of bonding failure are considered.
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D002654:Child Care; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004467:Economics; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007228:Infant Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D007630:Kenya; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D012922:Social Change; D014886:Weaning