It would be out of place here to recite at length statistics which reveal the seriousness of our own problem of malnutrition, but a few facts brought to light by the examination of a large part of the twenty million school children in the United States should be mentioned. Miss Leete, of the American Child Hygiene Association (3), summarizes these statistics by stating that according to them 1 per cent of the children are mentally defective; that 5 per cent are tuberculous now or have been in the past; that 5 per cent have defective hearing; that 25 per cent have defective sight; that 15 to 25 per cent have diseased tonsils or adenoids; that 10 to 20 per cent have deformed feet; that 50 to 75 per cent have defective teeth and that 15 to 25 per cent suffer from malnutrition. The discovery of the nature of the defects brings forth an incentive to inquire into the causes producing them, and an understanding of the etiology of these conditions gives courage to undertake the task of rendering assistance.