Malnutrition and the family: deprivation in kwashiorkor.

The background to social and emotional deprivation is discussed and applied to a study of kwashiorkor in East African children. A group of 107 children with kwashiorkor was compared with 111 controls. Age, sex and tribe were all found to have significances of their own: fifty of each group were therefore matched for these three factors. Ten other factors were found to be significant in the background of children with kwashiorkor, all of which could be associated with social or emotional deprivation or both (see Table 14). It is concluded that, in childhood, sustained personal care and affection are essential to normal growth.