Identification of risk factors for malnutrition: is there some evidence for predisposition?

Abstract

Reviewed are reports on factors, identified by risk analysis, involved in the genesis of primary malnutrition in children. Data are compared with the sequence of factors in a flow diagram, based on the natural history of malnutrition, proposed 3 decades ago. Susceptibility to malnutrition is analyzed in light of observations related to inheritance, the ob gene and leptin.