Sufficient Protein Quality of Food Aid Varies with the Physiologic Status of Recipients.

Protein quality scores use the amino acid (AA) requirements of a healthy North American child. AA requirements vary with physiologic status. We estimated AA requirements for healthy North American children, children with environmental enteric dysfunction, children recovering from wasting, and children with an acute infection.

Optimizing Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods for Protein Quality, Cost, and Acceptability.

This article describes current research on the development of alternative ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs) in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition. An innovative and versatile linear programming tool has been developed to facilitate the creation of therapeutic formulas that are determined acceptable on multiple levels: costs, ingredient acceptability, availability and stability, nutrient requirements, and personal preferences. The formulas are analyzed for ease of production by Washington University team members and for organoleptic properties acceptability to target populations.

Protein Quality and Growth in Malnourished Children.

Background: Protein quality refers to the amounts and ratios of essential amino acids in a food. Two methods most commonly used for determining protein quality are the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) and the digestible indispensible amino acid score (DIAAS).

Objective: To use existing literature to compare different amino acid profiles and PDCAAS and DIAAS scores in individuals with acute inflammation and to assess their relationship with weight gain in children with severe acute malnourished (SAM).