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Modesta Roberts (left) looks on as a community health worker records her child's weight at a malnutrition clinic near Chikwawa, Malawi.

Health workers measure the circumference of a child's upper arm. A measurement of less than 115 mm results in a diagnosis of severe malnutrition.

Dr. Indi Trehan measures a child’s height – another indicator of malnutrition – at the clinic in Malawi. Trehan and colleagues from Washington University in Saint Louis are currently researching the impact of therapeutic food on brain development.

Amoxicillin, a common antibiotic, has been shown to improve children's recovery from severe malnutrition and to reduce their chances of dying by nearly 40 percent.

To administer amoxicillin to sick children, health workers open the drug capsules and mix the powdery white contents with water.

A mother pours the mixture of amoxicillin and water into her child’s mouth.

Health workers at the clinic put in long hours, and many women and children travel great distances to the malnutrition clinics.

Rural health clinics in Malawi often choose one day of the week to see children who are suffering from severe malnutrition, and mothers are asked to bring their children on that day.

The highest rates of malnutrition are often found in the most remote parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where poor roads and a lack of infrastructure make health service delivery difficult.