Mothers of malnourished children were evaluated by psychologist, nutritionist, social worker and pediatrician with the objective of verifying in which ways the psychological, social and nutritional aspects interact. All mothers were from the low socioeconomic level, with extremely low family incomes, lower school levels were predominant, with 57.6% up to 4 years of formal education; 27.3% of the mothers were single, 48.5% single with male partners, 18.2% married and 6% separated. Main personality traits found: immaturity, difficulties in relationships, low self- regard, feelings of insufficiency/inferiority, aggressiveness. The intellectual level was average or below average in 82.6%. Concerning food preparation, we observed that 80% were disorganized and showed poor hygiene, 64% did not show interest, 77% wasted foodstuffs, 61.9% were insecure in handling foods and 37% prepared foods with inadequate aspect and consistency. Results confirm that social aspects effectively are a risk factor for malnutrition in families from the low socioeconomic level. Other aspects are also very relevant, since certain characteristics of the mother's personality disturb her performance and determine external disorder and absence of interest during preparation of meals, an activity directly related to child care.