SummaryMuscle tissue obtained by needle biopsy from the quadriceps femoris of eight malnourished and eight recovered children were examined histologically. In both groups about two-thirds of the total nuclear count was due to muscle nuclei. The remaining one-third was made up of vascular, nerve, and interstitial cells and isolated nuclei in similar proportions in the two groups. A significantly greater percentage of muscle nuclei consisted of myogenic cells in recovered children as compared to malnourished children (20.7 ± 6.4vs.2.6 ± 1.4%)SpeculationThe presence of a higher percentage of myogenic cells in muscle of children who have recovered from protein-energy malnutrition suggests that muscle repletion involves hyperplastic growth and that muscle maturation in apparently fully recovered children may not be complete.