A study of 1,000 underfive rural children in 742 families, majority (72.8 per cent) belonging to socio-economic status IV and V, revealed that malnutrition was present in 82.5 per cent of children. Vitamin deficiencies were detected clinically in 22.9 per cent of children, the most common being vitamin A deficiency (12.4 per cent), followed by rickets (5.9 per cent), vitamin B-complex deficiencies (4.2 per cent) and scurvy in only 0.4 per cent of cases. An inverse relation with socio-economic status was established for protein energy malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. However, vitamin D deficiency was highest in socio-economic status II (8.2 per cent). Anemia was present in 62 per cent cases, while 8.2 per cent were severely anemic.