"International development agencies may be able to save the lives of a greater number of undernourished children by changing how they allocate food aid in developing countries, suggests a study published [Monday] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," SciDev.Net reports. "The findings are based on mathematical modeling using data from more than 5,600 children from Bwamanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo," the news service writes. "Instead of allocating food based solely on weight-for-height measurements, as is currently recommended, making use of additional 'height-for-age' data reduced the effects of malnutrition by nine percent in the study," SciDev.Net states, adding that "the same end results in alleviating malnutrition were achieved with the new method as with the current one but with a 61 percent cut in the cost of providing ready-to-use therapeutic and supplementary food, the study found."