Chronic undernourishment in infancy and obesity associated with short stature in the adult phase may have common determining biological and socio-environmental factors. This study with a view to contributing to the understanding of this relationship has as objective the verification of how children and parents distribution of nutritional conditions in pauperized families takes place and what the factors of a social, environmental and biological nature involvedare. It was studied 214 children aged 6 months to 5 years and 293 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years, belonging to pauper families earning monthly incomes less than US 70,living in two rural municipalities of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Maternal schooling, number of rooms in the dwelling, age bellow 24 months, problems at birth and low stature of the mother especially when associated with obesity and, were all associated with the height deficitin children up to five years of age. The association of fathers height was weak. Conversely to the children of less then five years of age, the children of six year or over and adolescents were more clearly subject to the adverse socio-environmental and family conditions. Type of dwelling,number of individuals by dwelling, fathers absence and alcohol abuser in the family, lowstature of the mother associated with obesity were strongly related to the height deficit. Lowstature of the father was associated with the stature deficit, in this group..
