Sukhatme had in the early 1960’s originally formulated the estimate of the proportion of undernourished in a population (PU) within a bivariate distribution framework where dietary energy consumption (DEC) and dietary energy requirement (DER) are considered as random variables. However, in the absence of data on DEC and DER of individuals expressed in the form of bivariate distribution, Sukhatme had suggested a formula that considers the part of the distribution of DEC below a cut-off point repr esenting the lower limit of the distribution of DER as an estimate of PU. However, this univariate approach has been criticised as yielding an underestimate of the magnitude of the prevalence undernourishment in a population. In response to this critic, Sukhatme has attempted to justify the approach by invoking the theory of intra-individual changes in DER. As this theory has led to a controversy rather than a clarification of the univariate approach, doubts regarding its validity still prevail. Following a review of these developments including the concept of DER, this article shows that the formulation of PU within the bivariate distribution framework is inappropriate. Subsequently, the relevance of the univariate approach is clarified. Finally, the article addresses certain issues relating to practical estimation of the prevalence measures based on household rather than individual data pertaining to DEC.