Use of ready to use therapeutic food can curb malnutrtion: WHO

New Delhi, Jun 7 (UNI) An innovative approach involving highly fortified, ready-to-use therapeutic foods could play a crucial role in addressing severe acute malnutrition, which affects an estimated 20 million children under the age of five worldwide and kills an estimated one million children each year.

A statement by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) and UNICEF issued today highlights new evidence that about three-quarters of children with severe acute malnutrition - those who have a good appetite and no medical complications - can be treated at home with these therapeutic foods (RUTFs).

These are palatable, soft and crushable nutrient- and energy-rich foods that can be eaten by children over the age of six months without adding water, thereby reducing the risk of bacterial infection.

Globally an average of one child die of malnutrtion every thirty seconds. These children are up to 20 times more likely to die than well-nourished children. The problem was acute in countries like India where according to the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS), about 19 percent children suffer from extreme malnutrition resulting in wasting (too thin for a given height) while 38 per cent of them are stunted (too short for age) and 46 per cent are underweight (too thin for age). A remarkably high prevalence of anaemia i.e 79 per cent has been found amongst children aged 6 to 35 months.

Use of RUTFs could play an important role in saving the lives of these malnourished children and improving their health and quality of life. This could be especially significant if the government uses these RUTFs for its Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) under which supplementary nutrition is provided to pre-school children in rural areas. The quality of food supplied under ICDS has faced severe criticism from experts recently for their poor nutritional quality.

The RUTFs recommended by WHO, UNICEF and WFP combines community-based care for severely malnourished children with traditional hospital-based treatment. RUTFs provide the nutrients required to treat a severely malnourished child at home, without refrigeration, and even where hygiene conditions are not perfect.

The technology to produce RUTFs is relatively simple and could be used in all countries with high levels of severe acute malnutrition.

The traditional response to severe acute malnutrition has been to refer children to a hospital or specialized in-patient treatment unit, to be fed special milk-based diets. Though this treatment is effective, families may not have easy access to health facilities that could provide such care in the poorest countries where the majority of children with severe acute malnutrition live.

In-patient treatment may not be an option for parents who simply cannot leave their homes for several weeks. In addition, severely malnourished children are vulnerable to infections as a result of weak immunity and could be at risk in crowded hospital wards.

When implemented on a large scale, and properly combined with hospital treatment for children with complications, community-based management of severe acute malnutrition could prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children each year.

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