Undernutrition is associated with greater mortality rates from most childhood disease
Epidemiological methods have shown that undernutrition accounts for 56% of child death worldwide
Mild, moderate and severe undernutrition increases the risk of death from common childhood illnesses by relative risk (RR) factors of 2.5, 4.6, 8.4
RR of death in the elderly is 1.8 (weight loss of more than 3%of body weight)