Effectiveness of ready-to-use therapeutic food compared to a corn/soy blend-based pre-mix for the treatment of childhood moderate acute malnutrition in Niger
Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF)
Year Published: 2010
Journal
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics
Authors
Fabienne Nackers, France Broillet, Diakite Oumarou, Ali Djibo, et al
Methods
-This study was a field randomized trial in Niger using 451 moderately acute malnourished children. 215 chidren received peanut-based ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) mix; 236 children received a corn/soy blend. The objective was to compare weight gain and recovery rate in the two groups
Key Findings
Key Findings: The peanut-RUTF performed bettter than the corn-soy blend. Overall recovery rate was 79.1% in peanut-RUTF group an 64.4% in the CSB (corn/soy blend) group. RUTF children had higher weight gain and shorter length of stay than CSB children. Also, at discharge 82.9% of RUTF children were able to finish the daily ration compared to only 53.0% of CSB children