Nutritional State of Australian Aboriginal Children

Abstract

A field study has been made, in 1965 and 1967, of a group of Australian aboriginal children aged up to 15 years, and symmetrically represented by age group. There was a high incidence, by white standards, of malnutrition. This occurred at all ages, and applied, not only to height and weight, but to head circumference and chest size; we could find no convincing genetic cause for this, nor evidence of HGH deficiency. There was no good association with lactose intolerance and association with infections was not proven; early onset growth failure was common and might be associated with a falloff in maternal milk supply. There was an association of malnutrition with death.