[Nutritional state of women and children in the rural community of Mpal (District of Saint Louis, Senegal)].

This cross sectional survey carried in april 1995 aimed to assess the nutritional status of the women old enough to procreate++ and the children less than 5 years old in the community of Mpal (District of St Louis). The method of sampling used was the method of stratified poll. The assessment of the nutritional status is carried among the women by measuring the brachial circumference and the corporal mass index. Among the children, the indicators used were the ratios: weight-age, weight-height and the brachial circumference. The results showed a rate of malnutrition very high in comparison to the national averages as well in ythe women old enough to procreate (31% versus 17.4%) as in the children (11% of acute malnutrition versus 8.7% and 24.4% of chronic malnutrition versus 21.7%). The young mothers and the children more than 3 years old were the more frequently reached. It urges to set up in this locality a programme of struggling against malnutrition based on the integration of the economics activities of the communitary groups to their health activities.