Malnutrition as assessed by the currently used standards has been shown to be a potent risk factor for the severity of pneumonia in children in Goroka. Those members of the community most affected by the vicious cycle between infection and malnutrition are young children from the time of weaning. Detailed studies of infant nutrition and weaning practices have been carried out. Studies on lactation, breastmilk, the introduction of solid food, growth and the relationship between psychological development and nutritional status have been undertaken, as well as studies on maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. Food intake has been evaluated in urban and rural households.

Nitrogen metabolism was studied in the highlands near Lufa and on the coast at Yagaum using a stable heavy isotope of nitrogen. Composition of Papua New Guinean foods is not known with any degree of certainty; a limited number of food analyses were undertaken in the Institute's nutrition laboratory in Madang while that laboratory was operational. Micronutrients have also been studied, including iron (discussed under anaemia), iodine (discussed under endemic cretinism), zinc (deficiency of which occurs in some areas and leads to increased susceptibility to infection) and vitamin A (which is present in the diet in PNG but may be deficient in children suffering from severe infection). Collaborative studies were undertaken on agricultural aspects of food and the use to which land and other agricultural resources in the community were being put, the economic basis of subsistence agriculture and food crops, the effect of the introduction of cash crops, attitudes to food and nutritional information, the effectiveness of health services in providing nutrition education, the importance of social and behavioural factors in food preferences and nutrition, particularly in children and mothers, and the effect of westernization and change on the nutritional health of Papua New Guineans. A study on the nutritional effects of a development project was completed in Karimui. Many of these findings have yet to be implemented.

The National Nutrition Survey was successfully carried out under the technical direction of the Institute. The first analysis by district indicated clearly that there were a few areas of the country which were significantly disadvantaged nutritionally compared to the rest. The next task was to study the causes of this relatively poor level of nutrition, with the aim of being able to make practical suggestions for improving it. We had hoped, in collaboration with other sectors, to determine the deficiencies, devise ways of correcting them, evaluate interventions and monitor change. Unfortunately, because of the increasing financial constraints faced by the Institute and other government agencies, none of these important follow-up activities to the National Nutrition Survey were carried out.

Because of the Institute's lack of funds, virtually all activities in the nutrition research program have been deferred. However, outside project funding has enabled two important new projects to go ahead. A collaborative intervention study on vitamin A, zinc and malaria has been carried out in the Wosera area of Maprik District: it was found that both vitamin A and zinc successfully reduced morbidity from malaria. A research implementation project based on nutrition and hygiene in rural households is being conducted in Tari, and has become a model for sustainable self-help development projects in the country.