The diet and nutritional status of 196 children aged 1--5 years old in Heqing County, Yunnan Province were assessed in a cross-sectional survey of anthropometry, diet and anaemia. The respective prevalence of stunting, underweight, wasting and low fat muscle was: 38 percent, 21 percent, 2 percent and 8 percent. One-third (34.5 percent) of children were anaemic. Although the mean age of boys and girls was comparable, more girls than boys were underweight (53.7% vs. 46.3%, p = 0.109), and had low fat muscle (69% vs. 31%, p = 0.039), whereas more boys than girls were stunted (58.1% vs. 41.9%, p = 1.000). Girls had significantly lower intakes than boys of iron, zinc, total energy, carbohydrates, and protein (p0.05). Average daily intakes of linoleic, alpha-linolenic, arachidonic, and docosahexaenoic acid were 2 100 +/- 1 200, 300 +/- 250, 55 +/- 35 and 30 +/- 140 mg/d, respectively. There is a high prevalence of malnutrition and dietary quality is poor in children in southwestern rural China.
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