Objective: To study the socio-demographic risk factors for the malnutrition in the pre-school children (4-6 years) of Allahabad. Method: 425 children were surveyed in the study belonging to both the rural and urban parts of the district. Results: Of the total children studied, there was an almost equal proportion of (50%) of boys and girls. Most of the children belonged to rural habitat (66.3%). Cases of low weight-for-age (underweight -2SD) were found to be 63.5% of the total studied population, whereas 39.8% children were low weight- for-height (wasted -2SD). Conclusion: Parent__ampersandsignrsquo;s education, per capita income, family size and type of settlement were the key variables identified as risk factors for under nutrition in pre-school children.