A U.N.-backed survey shows that malnutrition in North Korean children has dropped in the past two years but still remains alarmingly high.

According to the World Food Program's country director for North Korea, Richard Ragan, the recent drop in the number of malnourished North Korean children has demonstrated that international food aid to the impoverished nation has worked.

However, he was quick to add that if such global support declines, the recent drop in malnutrition could be reversed in the case of another crippling famine similar to the one that struck the North in the mid-90s.

The survey showed that the rate of chronic malnourishment for children under the age of six was 37 percent, down from 42 percent in the last study in October 2002 while acute malnutrition dropped to 7 percent among young children from 9 percent in 2002. The survey randomly sampled 4,800 children under six.

However, the survey also showed that one out of three mothers with children under the age of two was malnourished.