Many people think that eating food is simply something which is pleasant and necessary to satisfy hunger. They do not realise that a great deal of their ill health is due to eating the wrong kinds of food. The reason for this is that they do not know enough about what food is for. 

     In many parts of the world, notably in certain Asian countries, there is much starvation, and many people die each year because they eat insufficient food. In these countries, the main problem is the low production of food. In East Africa, however, starvation and prolonged hunger are not as common as in Asia, because in most areas the climate and soil allow the people living there to produce enough food for their needs. A person belonging to a family in which hunger is unknown finds it difficult to realise that some of his relatives maybe ill because of something lacking in their diet. But food is necessary not only to satisfy hunger, but also to provide the body with certain substances to keep it healthy. Ill health due to poor diet is known as malnutrition. In East Africa, malnutrition is due not to lack of food, but to lack of knowledge about food and the solution to the problem lies in the spreading of this knowledge.

     It is important for people to realise that malnutrition causes a great deal of illness and death.

Moreover, apart from the people who are obviously ill, there are many thousands who are tired or weak, or have poorly developed bodies, simply through lack of proper feeding. These people are far more likely to get common diseases (e.g. tuberculosis, infections, and diarrhoea) than those with a good diet, and they do not recover from them so quickly.

     Malnutrition is most common and severe in children under five years of age, and women of child-bearing age. It has been going on for years, and is likely to become more widespread as more and more people go to live in big towns and cease to grow their own food. (…)