The study was carried out among 40 low-income households in East Jakarta. It generally aimed at examining the contribution of intra-household food distribution practices to the differences in nutritional status of individual members within and between urban poor households with underfive year old children. Two groups represented the study households. One group with malnourished (<-2 Z-scores for weight for age indicator) 18-60 months old children and the other group with well-nourished (>:-2 Z-scores) of the same age. A three day household and individual food intake were collected through the use of a combined food weighing and 24-hour food recall method. Results revealed that.malnourished underfive year old children were given less adequate diets in terms of nutrient requirement while parents? diet were sufficiently adequate. In contrast, the well-nourished children were adequately fed while their parents got less. The children's intake were found to have a marginal relationship with their nutritional status while significant associations were seen with parent's energy intake and household's total income. On the whole, findings indicated inequality in the food distribution patterns among urban poor households and these patterns somehow influences the nutritional status of household members particularly the pre-school age children