The Interrelationship of Malnutrition and Diarrhea in a Periurban Area Outside Alexandria, Egypt

In the developing world, children are often observed to have both diarrhea and malnutrition. This observation has led many researchers to speculate that diarrhea may produce malnutrition and that malnutrition may predispose to diarrhea. In this study, the interrelationship between diarrhea and malnutrition was investigated among 143 Egyptian children less than 3 years of age. Methods For 22 months, children were followed for diarrhea at twice weekly home visits and measured for nutritional status at approximately 3-month intervals. Nutrition- measurements were converted to-scores based on the National Center for Health StatisticsWorld Health Organization reference population.