Malnutrition is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the newborn. The implications track through childhood into adulthood. Prompt detection and a proactive management are critical to forestall associated complications. At present, there is no gold standard for detecting malnutrition in newborn babies and the methods currently being used (for instance, birth weight-for -gestational-age, PI, MAC/HC ratio) have limitations. Skin fold thickness (SFT) and CANSCORE are two methods of detecting malnutrition at birth, both of which are proxy measures of subcutaneous fat mass and hence, of nutritional status. Both methods have the advantage of simplicity, non-invasiveness and convenience. Specifically, the objectives of the present study were to document the SFT and CANSCORE distribution of term neonates, to determine the correlation between CANSCORE and SFT and to determine the prevalence of Fetal malnutrition (FM) using CANSCORE. Nine hundred and fifty (950) consecutive, term neonates delivered at Lagos Island Maternity Hospital (LIMH), who met set study criteria were recruited into the study. Anthropometric indices like birth weight, length, occipitofrontal circumference and mid-arm circumference were measured, from which ponderal index and MAC/HC ratios were derived. CANSCORE and Skin fold measurements at three sites (thigh, triceps, subscapular) were done within 72 hours of life. The sum and mean of SFT measurements from the three sites were calculated for each subject. The relationship between CANSCORE and SFT was determined using linear correlation analysis. The mean SFT at the thigh, triceps and sub scapular sites were 5.7mm, 3.92mm and 4.1mm respectively. Mean SFT was significantly higher in females than in males at all three SFT sites, p <0.05 in each case.