The nutritional status of women and children is particularly important, because it is
through women and their off-spring that the pernicious effects of malnutrition are
propagated to future generations. A malnourished mother is likely to give birth to a lowbirth-
weight (LBW) baby susceptible to disease and premature death, which only further
undermines the economic development of the family and society, and continues the cycle
of poverty and malnutrition. Although child malnutrition declined globally during the
1990s, with the prevalence of underweight children falling from 27% to 22% (de Onis et
al., 2004a), national levels of malnutrition still vary considerably (0% in Australia; 49% in
Afghanistan)(WHO, 2003). The largest decline in the level of child malnutrition was in