CHAPTER ONE<br >The Malnutrition<br >Problem<br >"I think it could be plausibly argued， ! wrote George Orwell in The Road<br >to Wigan Pier， "that changes of diet are more important than changes of<br >dynasty or even of religion. 1 As withNther things Orwellian， people are<br >starting to take heed. In policy-making quarters in several parts of the<br >world， nutrition has begun to strike a sensitive chord. Disturbing research<br >findings about the effects of malnutrition on childhood death rates， on the<br >frequency and severity of illness， on physical growth， on productivity， and<br >on mental development have stirred concern. For years it has been as-<br >sumed that， given educational opportunities and other environmental ad-<br >vantages， a child had every reason to be as bright， imaginative， and pro-<br >ductive as other children of his age. Now it is being suggested that the<br >child behind the empty-eyed face commonly seen in poor countries may<br >be backward.<br > The greater interest of policy makers in nutrition also reflects their<br >growing disenchantment with accepted economic development dogma. To<br >masses of people in low-income countries， the so-called Development<br >Decade of the 1960s did not fulfill its promise. Rising expectations are<br >giving way to rising frustrations. New solutions are being sought.<br > At the same time， nutrition is becoming a more relevant policy issue--<br >and remedial action more feasible---as countries are relieved of the pres-<br >sure of an inadequate food supply. Several countries whose food shortages<br >in the mid-1960s prompted U.S. congressional hearings on the apparent<br >inevitability of famine in the 1970s have achieved or are approaching self-<br > sutficiency in cereal grain production. For many of them， growing enough<br > food is no longer the most immediate concern. In fact， there is or soon will<br > be broadened choice of land use. Should a country use the land to plant<br ><br >