A ready-to-use therapeutic food containing 10% milk is less effective than one with 25% milk in the treatment of severely malnourished children.

Standard therapy for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is home-based therapy with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) containing 25% milk. In an effort to lower the cost of RUTF and increase availability, some have suggested that a portion of milk be replaced with soy. This trial was designed to determine whether treating children with SAM with 10% milk RUTF containing soy would result in a similar recovery rate compared with the 25% milk RUTF.

Supplemental feeding with ready-to-use therapeutic food in Malawian children at risk of malnutrition.

The study was a controlled, comparative clinical effectiveness trial of two supplementary feeding regimens in children at risk of malnutrition from seven centres in rural Malawi. Being at risk of malnutrition was defined as weight-for-height <85%, but >80% of the international standard. A stepped-wedge design with systematic allocation was used for assigning children to receive either ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) (n=331) or micronutrient-fortified corn/soy-blend (n=41) for up to eight weeks.

Comparison of home-based therapy with ready-to-use therapeutic food with standard therapy in the treatment of malnourished Malawian children: a controlled, clinical effectiveness trial.

Background: Childhood malnutrition is common in Malawi, and the standard treatment, which follows international guidelines, results in poor recovery rates. Higher recovery rates have been seen in pilot studies of home-based therapy with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF).

Objective: The objective was to compare the recovery rates among children with moderate and severe wasting, kwashiorkor, or both receiving either home-based therapy with RUTF or standard inpatient therapy.

Home-based treatment of malnourished Malawian children with locally produced or imported ready-to-use food.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of home-based therapy with ready-to-use food (RTUF) in producing catch-up growth in malnourished children and to compare locally produced RTUF with imported RTUF for this purpose.

Methods: After a brief inpatient stabilization, 260 children with severe malnutrition were enrolled and systematically allocated to receive home therapy with either imported, commercially produced RTUF or locally produced RTUF. Each child received 730 kJ/kg/day and was followed up fortnightly.