Abstract
Cambodia continues to have a high prevalence of acute malnutrition. Low acceptability has been found for standard ready-to-use-therapeutic-food (RUTF) products. Therefore, NumTrey, a locally-produced fish-based RUTF, was developed. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of NumTrey compared to an imported milk-based RUTF for weight gain among children aged 6–59 months in the home-treatment for acute malnutrition. Effectiveness was tested in a single-blinded randomized controlled trial with weight gain as the primary outcome. Anthropometry was assessed at baseline and bi-weekly follow-ups until endline at Week 8. In total, 121 patients were randomized into BP-100TM (n = 61) or NumTrey (n = 60). There was no statistical difference in mean weight gain between the groups (1.06 g/kg/day; 95% CI (0.72, 1.41) and 1.08 g/kg/day; 95% CI (0.75, 1.41) for BP-100™ and NumTrey, respectively). In addition, no statistically significant differences in secondary outcomes were found. Although the ability to draw conclusions was limited by lower weight gain than the desired 4 g/kg/day in both groups, no superiority was found for eitherRUTF. A locally produced RUTF is highly relevant to improve nutrition interventions in Cambodia. A locally produced fish-based RUTF is a relevant alternative to imported milk-based RUTF for the treatment of SAM in Cambodia.
Highlights
It is estimated that 51.5 million children below 5 years of age are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and 18.7 million children from severe acute malnutrition (SAM)
MAM is defined as a weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) between −2 and −3, and/or a mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) between 115 and 125 mm
We showed that neither RUTF was superior in the effectiveness related to weight gain (g/kg/day)
Summary
It is estimated that 51.5 million children below 5 years of age are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and 18.7 million children from severe acute malnutrition (SAM)annually [1]. It is estimated that 51.5 million children below 5 years of age are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and 18.7 million children from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). MAM is defined as a weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) between −2 and −3, and/or a mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) between 115 and 125 mm. SAM is defined as WHZ
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