This paper estimates a reduced form nutritional status function, that includes a linear combination of independent variables which explain the household's per capita consumption expenditures. Instrumented consumption expenditures are considered a good proxy for permanent income, and the findings indicate that they are an important determinant of long-term (or chronic) malnutrition. Income, however, does not have a significant effect on current (or acute) malnutrition. Mothers with more education will be less likely to have children who suffer from acute malnutrition when controlling for income levels. The education of the father, however, does not confer the same positive benefits upon his children's nutritional welfare, except as mediated through higher earnings. Parental height, especially of women, also has an important impact on long-term nutritional status. The characteristics of the village in which the household resides also play an important role in determining levels of malnutrition. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.