The prevalence of childhood malnutrition: its measurement, what it means and its uses.

MORTALITY The death rate of children 1 to 4 years is widely accepted as a rough indicator of malnutrition. For Peninsular Malaysia, this rate has declined from 10.65 in 1957 to 2.56 in 1976. According to the Statistics Department, 68% of our population reside in the rural areas. The percentage breakdown of the rural population in terms of ethnic groups is: Malay 51%, Chinese 38% and Indians 11%. As is well known, disparities in toddler mortality rates exist between our three major racial groups being highest amongst the Malays, suggesting that malnutrition is more prevalent in the rural areas (Table 1).