Malawi, one of Africa's poorest nations, on Monday launched a study to tackle malnutrition in a country where one out of every four children dies before their fifth birthday.
The survey aims to help the government better target its programmes to prevent malnutrition, a joint statement by the Malawi government, UNICEF and the Irish Aid agency which is funding the 500,000-dollar project.
The last such study in 2001 found that almost 60 percent of pre-school children, 57 percent of women and 37 percent of men had vitamin A deficiency, which hurts the immune system.
UNICEF's representative in Malawi, Aida Girma, said the lack of vitamin A will be responsible for 156,000 child deaths between 2006 and 2015.
"Micro-nutrient deficiencies have an immense impact on child mortality in Malawi," she said.
Nearly half of Malawi's 12 million citizens live below the poverty line of one dollar a day and the country's gross domestic product is around 210 dollars per person.
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