Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for home-based nutritional rehabilitation of severe acute malnutrition in children from six months to five years of age.

Study answer

What this study found

Overall, standard RUTF used to meet total daily nutritional requirements probably improves recovery from severe acute malnutrition and may increase weight gain, but effects on relapse and mortality remain uncertain. In pooled comparisons versus alternative dietary approaches, recovery improved in 6 RCTs (n=1852; RR 1.33, 1.16 to 1.54) and at the end of intervention (RR 1.41, 1.19 to 1.68), with weight gain favoring RUTF (MD 1.12 g/kg/day, 0.27 to 1.96). When RUTF was used as a supplement to the usual diet, recovery may improve and relapse may be reduced, but mortality and weight-gain effects…

Study & population

Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials in children aged 6 months to 5 years with severe acute malnutrition, conducted in low- and middle-income countries including Malawi, India, Zambia, Kenya, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, and Burkina Faso.

Intervention

Home-based ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), generally an oral peanut-based therapeutic paste or comparable formulated RUTF, was used for rehabilitation of severe acute malnutrition in children 6 months to 5 years of age.

Key limitation

The evidence base was often low or very low certainty, with substantial heterogeneity across trials, inconsistent outcome definitions, and variable reporting.

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Original abstract