Ecological factors underlying protein-calorie malnutrition in an irrigated area of the Sudan.

A community survey was undertaken in 14 villages in the Gezira farming region of the Sudan to determine the causes of malnutrition which is prevalent in the area. Low expenditure on food, poor housing conditions, and poor hygiene were found to result from low income. While the ultimate goal should be improvement of income, quicker results will accrue from tackling the equally important dietary causes which result from ignorance about child feeding. In the Sudan, the decline of breastfeeding, the rise in bottlefeeding, the lack of supplementary feeding, and inequitable intrafamily distribution of food are particularly important causative factors. The low levels of immunization against communicable diseases is a contributory factor which could be corrected immediately. Family size and birth rank were not important in the etiology of malnutrition.