Diseases of nutritional deficiency of children in South India: a review of some salient conditions

Abstract

The foregoing account of studies on nutritional disorders of children in South India has touched on two major problems: vitamin A deficiency and protein malnutrition. Other nutritional deficiency diseases such as scurvy, rickets, pellagra, and phrynoderma are also encountered in the region. Studies on phrynoderma carried out in Coonoor have indicated the role of essential fatty acid deficiency in the pathogenesis of the disease. From the point of view of prevalence of frank nutritional deficiency diseases, the children between 1 and 5 years of age must be considered the most vulnerable segment in South India. In any rational program of nutritional betterment of the population, this group must receive special attention.