Statistics from the survey carried out at the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids in Glasgow also found that 10 per cent of the children screened were obese.

The children's charity says these figures are a stark reminder that many families continue to live in destitution and that Scottish children are still growing up in poverty.

It has called on the government, which pledged in 1999 to half child poverty by 2010, to seriously invest in support for struggling families in its last budget before next year's General Election.

Barnardo's, whose call is backed by the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, warns that the 2009 pre-budget report, due at the beginning of December, is Chancellor Alistair Darling's last chance to ensure that this target is met, despite poor results in recent years.

Martin Crewe, director of Barnardo's Scotland said: "The figures released by NHS Greater Glasgow are a stark reminder that 21st century poverty is not just an abstract notion. The effects of growing up in poverty will have implications for the health of children for the rest of their lives."

"We hope these statistics will convince the Chancellor that more has to be done to help children and families living in poverty and urge Darling to make serious investment in his pre-budget report due to be presented on 9 December. This is his last chance to live up to the commitment his Government made in 1999.

The Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill recently announced early results from ScotlandÕs first screening poll to identify children at risk of malnutrition.

Consultant paediatric gastroenterologist at Yorkhill, Diana Flynn, said: "What prompted us to look at nutritional screening was that while it had been developed for adults in hospitals there was very little for children.

"The tool is not only to screen for malnutrition but also to assess if patients are at risk of developing nutritional problems, as there is currently no good single measure to assess risk. For example they may have difficulty absorbing food because of their medical condition which might only be detected later when the child had lost weight."

With a further 10 per cent of children also diagnosed as obese, the figures demonstrate that children in Glasgow are coping with a range of serious nutritional problems.

John Dickie, head of Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said: "These shocking figures reinforce why it is vital in the coming pre-budget report for the Chancellor to invest the £4bn in child benefits and tax credits that are needed to come close to meeting the promise to halve child poverty by 2010.

"Only serious investment in family incomes will protect our children from the devastating consequences of poverty and give credibility to the Government's Child Poverty Bill."

"At the same time these problems of child malnutrition highlight why the commitment by local authorities and the Scottish Government to roll out healthy free school meals to all P1 to P3 pupils next year is so important."

Scottish Conservative leader, Annabel Goldie, also raised the issue in parliament this week. She said: "I was alarmed and appalled when I discovered this week that out of one and a half thousand children admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, more than 150 were suffering from malnutrition. This is a disgrace and an affront in modern day Scotland."

Recent figures form the Campaign to End Child Poverty in Scotland revealed that 137,000 Scots children have no parent in work and the number of children in families having to survive on benefits has jumped by 13 per cent in just twelve months.