Serum non-esterified fatty acid in undernourished children during recovery.

Seventy-one children from five to sixty months of age with protein-energy malnutrition were classified into compensated and incompensated groups. Serum non-esterified fatty acid concentration was determined in every child at admission and in a control group of thirty-one well-nourished children. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences between the three groups. Twenty of the undernourished patients were subjected to follow-up study at weekly intervals. Ten out of the twenty recovered immediately, showing signficantly decreasing serum non-esterified fatty acid concentrations in the weekly intervals. The other ten did not present any definite pattern of behaviour.