The characteristics of malnourished children bear a striking resemblance to a number of the known characteristics of "disadvantaged children," e.g. apathy, irritability, sickliness, and a reduced attention span. The combination of malnutrition and the other negative effects of poverty perpetuates a cycle of illness, educational failure, and more poverty. If the aim of compensatory education is to break this cycle, then it is imperative that social scientists and educators become aware of the negative impact of malnutrition on the development of the child. Perhaps most specific to education is the demonstration of delayed neurointegrative development in children who have grown poorly because of malnutrition. Inadequacies of intersensory development can place the child at the risk of failing to establish an ordinary normal background of conditioning in his pre-school years, and at the risk of failing to profit from educational experience in the school years. Measures to insure the "equal creation" of each child are urgently needed. (Author/JM)