UNICEF will conduct a comprehensive study on North Koreans’ nutrition in September, the first time in three years since 2009.

The study will be a joint undertaking with North Korea’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the UN World Food Program and the World Health Organization.

UNICEF spokesman Christopher de Bono in an interview said that they will conduct a sample survey on North Korean mothers and children under the age of five, and that they will announce the preliminary results by the end of the year.

According to the 2009 survey, 19 percent of North Korean children under the age of five were underweight, while 32 percent were underdeveloped.