[pronut-hiv] Expanded Use of Nutrient Dense Ready-to-Use Foods Crucial for Reducing Childhood Malnutrition - From MSF

["George Carter" <fiar@verizon.net>]

One of their Top 10 Neglected Stories of 2007. I tend to agree.

George M. Carter

**
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/reports/topten/ 
index.cfm?msource=ADN071201E01#malnutrition
Expanded Use of Nutrient Dense Ready-to-Use Foods Crucial for  
Reducing Childhood Malnutrition
Niger 2007 © Anne Yzebe/MSF

Mothers feed their children a ready-to-use food (RUF) product called  
Plumpy'Doz at an MSF outpatient nutrition center in Maradi.

Acute malnutrition in early childhood is common in large areas of the  
Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and South Asia—the world's “malnutrition  
hotspots.” Every year, malnutrition is associated with the deaths of  
five million children under the age of five.

Recently, an effective response has emerged in the form of nutrient  
dense ready-to-use foods (RUFs) that can save the lives of acutely  
malnourished children. These products come in the form of milk- and  
peanut-based pastes enriched with all the vitamins and nutrients  
needed for rapid recovery. And they do not require refrigeration or  
preparation, allowing most malnourished children to be treated with  
RUF at home. But so far these products are only available to a tiny  
fraction of the severely malnourished children who need them.

MSF urges international donors to support systematic purchasing and  
use of RUF in countries where it's needed. RUF also has the potential  
to prevent children from becoming acutely malnourished by treating at  
earlier stages. This means international food aid programs targeting  
young children must incorporate RUFs to treat less severe forms of  
malnutrition and to prevent acute malnutrition from developing in  
areas of high prevalence.

In Niger in 2007, MSF launched a pilot program using a modified RUF  
as a supplement to prevent some 62,000 children from becoming  
malnourished during the period of seasonal food shortages. The  
program has helped to stanch a rise in acute malnutrition in one of  
the country's high prevalence districts.

In addition to calling for urgent scale up of RUF for children most  
in need, MSF is urging further efforts to use supplemental RUF to  
prevent children from becoming dangerously malnourished in the first  
place.