Research paper
Specially formulated foods for treating children with moderate acute malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries.
Study answer
What this study found
Both LNS and blended foods were effective for treating moderate acute malnutrition, with LNS producing a higher recovery proportion than blended foods. LNS did not reduce mortality, default, or progression to severe acute malnutrition, and it caused more vomiting in at least one pooled comparison (RR 1.43, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.85; 2712 children). Weight gain favored LNS modestly across comparisons, with mean differences of 0.18 to 0.69 g/kg/day. Overall, the evidence suggests blended foods such as CSB++ may be similarly effective and cheaper than LNS, but the assessed foods did not fully meet…
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 8 randomized controlled trials enrolling 10,037 children aged 6 to 60 months with moderate acute malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries.
- Intervention
- The review evaluated externally provided foods for outpatient treatment of moderate acute malnutrition in children, mainly lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) and blended foods such as corn/soy blends (CSB, CSB++) and a few complementary-food formulations.
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was heterogeneous, with multiple LNS and blended-food formulations, varying doses, and different comparison groups across trials.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Moderate acute malnutrition, also called moderate wasting, affects around 10% of children under five years of age in low- and middle-income countries. There are different approaches to addressing malnutrition with prepared foods in these s…