Protein and calorie malnutrition among preschool Navajo Indian children.

The hospital charts of children, under 5 years of age, admitted with malnutrition to the Public Health Service Indian Hospital in Tuba City, Arizona, were reviewed for the 5-year period of 1963-1967 inclusive. There were 616 children with diagnoses of malnutrition. Five hundred and eighty-seven had heights and weights below the norms for their chronological ages. Fifteen had kwashiorkor and 29 had marasmus. Total serum protein and serum albumin were reduced in the cases of kwashiorkor. The occurrence of these calorie- and protein-deficiency diseases constitute a major public health problem on the western half of the Navajo Reservation.