Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled Clinical Effectiveness Trial Comparing a Novel 10% Milk Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food with the Standard 25% Milk Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food in the Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Rural Malawian Children (2009)

The standard therapy for cases of severe acute malnutrition without complications is home-based therapy with milk-peanut based ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). However, the cost of ingredients in RUTF limits its availability in resource-poor countries, with powdered milk constituting 67 percent of the cost. In this clinical effectiveness trial, severely malnourished children were given either a reduced milk formulation of RUTF (10 percent milk) in which milk was replaced with soy protein or the standard formulation of RUTF (25 percent milk). Overall, children who received the 10 percent milk formulation had slower rates of weight gain and slower mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) gain.

The clinical effectiveness trial was funded by the Hickey Family Foundation with additional support from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Health, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition in the Bureau for Global Health.

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