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Specialized nutrition

Thanks to a nutrition programm Haitian children get therapeutic food.

Thanks to a nutrition programm Haitian children get therapeutic food. © action medeor

action medeor offers several products to treat and prevent severe or moderate acute malnutrition and vitamin and micronutrient deficiencies.

Malnutrition is a serious medical condition caused by a deficiency of essential proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals in a diet and it affects women and children mostly. The condition generally occurs in families with limited access to nutritious foods, not utilizing best practices for infant and young child feeding, with frequent exposure to infectious disease, and in emergency settings.

According to WHO nearly one-third of the deaths in children under five are related to malnutrition. Poor nutrition can greatly compromise a child’s immune system, making it more vulnerable to infectious diseases such as Malaria, diarrhea and respiratory infections. It was estimated that children suffering from severe acute malnutrition have a risk of death 9 times higher than well-nourished children.

For this reason, an adequate management of severe and moderate acute malnutrition is essential to improve child survival and to reduce the burden of disease. Therapeutic products, including Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs) and Ready to Use Supplementary Foods (RUSFs) have been proven a key strategy of success.

Types of therapeutic food

RUTFs contain all the energy and nutrients necessary to allow for rapid recovery and are used in the treatment of children over six months of age with severe acute malnutrition without medical complications and appetite. They are high-energy, fortified, ready-to-eat foods which can be found as a paste or as a bar. Since RUTFs are not water-based, bacteria are less likely to grow in them. They are safe and easy to apply without close medical supervision and can be used in combination with breastfeeding and other best practices for infant and young child feeding. Therefore RUTFs most often are the treatment of choice for community-based management of SAM.

RUSFs are similar in design to RUTFs but are only designed to provide part of the daily energy and nutrient requirements. They are successfully used in the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM).