Now, aid organizations appear to have found the silver bullet they have been so desperately seeking. For such a serious product, the name seems rather whimsical and silly, yet Plumpy’nut has already been credited with saving the lives of thousands of severely malnourished children throughout Africa. Although there is little argument that ready-to-use therapeutic foods have helped to save the lives of severely malnourished children, they have been virtually ignored as a preventative treatment, allowing thousands of children to start down a path of malnutrition that is difficult to reverse.
Understanding Malnutrition
To understand what Plumpy’nut has accomplished one must understand what malnutrition is. Every year 20 million children in Africa and South Asia are affected by this condition. The World Health Organization defines severe malnutrition as having a weight to height ratio that is at least 70% below the median.
While moderate childhood malnutrition is less acute, it remains a very deadly condition. If lucky, once diagnosed a child is admitted to a Nutritional Rehabilitation Unit where he or she is given inpatient treatment. Even with this intensive therapy, a mere 25% of these children go home to recover. The sad reality is that, of the children that are released, 10% die, 20% return for treatment, and 45% percent simply return home to become malnourished once again.
It is also vitally important to understand the long term effects malnutrition can have on a developing nation. Beyond the basic symptoms, being underweight and having stunted growth, malnutrition can lead to poor cognitive function and in some cases severe mental retardation. Depending on the severity, a malnourished child’s I.Q. could be lower by up to 15 points.
In Shimider, Ethiopia, Eteafraw Baro teaches at a school where most students perform far below the standard. She explains how many of her students “…minds are slow, they don’t grasp what you teach them" Poor cognitive function, in turn, leads to low education performance and a high number of school dropouts. Consequently, malnutrition leads to a less educated population and robs these children of any chance at a future beyond Africa’s poverty.
Changing Lives and Giving Hope
Ready- to-use therapeutic foods such as Plumpy’nut have already started to change lives. Plumpy’nut comes in a small sachet full of a brown paste. This sticky sweet substance is made up of roasted ground peanuts, vegetable oil, milk powder, sugar, and an ample dose of vitamins and minerals. Plumpy’nut is distinguished from the majority of more commonly known relief foods by these few, yet important, facts. It has a long shelf life and it needs no water or refrigeration. In places where travel is difficult, water is a scarce commodity, and refrigeration is simply impossible these simple characteristics make all the difference.
For both the nutritionist trying to rid the world of malnourishment, and the mothers desperate to keep their children alive, Plumpy’nut has given them a reason to hope. Milton Tectonidis, a MFS nutrition expert, summons the world to take action declaring “Thousands of kids are dying, we have enough data now. Do something."
Almost certainly, the data to which Tectonidis was referring is from a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This trial called “Effect of Preventive Supplementation with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food on the Nutritional Status, Mortality, and Morbidity of Children Aged Six to Sixty Months in Niger” had the objective of evaluating the effect of a three month distribution of Plumpy’nut. A total of twelve villages in Maradi, Niger were observed. Six villages were supplied Plumpy’nut while six were left alone. The study concluded that non-malnourished children whose diets were supplemented with ready- to-use therapeutic foods showed a halt in the decline of their weight-for-height z scores. Most promising was the fact that there was a significant decrease in the number of children diagnosed with moderate and severe malnutrition.
The Work Never Ends
Supporters of ready- to-use foods, including The World Heath Organization and UNICEF, do not claim that ready- to-use therapeutic foods cannot be improved. The price, currently about 50 dollars per child per year, could be greatly lowered if the powdered milk, the most expensive ingredient, was replaced with soy. There is also some controversy surrounding the patent that Nutriset will retain until 2018. Aid organizations maintain that no company should be able to patent a key humanitarian nutrition product. They worry that Nutriset will be unable to keep up with the increasing demand and might be tempted to price gouge. So far there has been no evidence of such activity but as demand mounts this could become a significant issue.
Finally, despite the chinks that mar the surface of this purported silver bullet, they are in no way substantial enough to delay this urgently needed aid. Plumpy’nut will not only save innumerable lives but this oddly named product has the ability to prevent children from ever needing to be saved. Aid organizations are begging the world to not simply look at ready-to-use therapeutic food as emergency nutrition, but rather a vaccine against this deadly hunger.
Additional Information
UNICEF
www.unicef.org/nutrition/niger_39675.html
MFS
Work Cited
Enserink, Martin. "The Peanut Butter Debate."
Isanaka, Sheila, et al. "Effect of Preventive Supplementation with Ready-to-Use
Therapeutic Food on the Nutritional Status, Mortality, and Morbidity of Children Aged 6 to 60 Months in
Niger."
Manary, Mark J. "Home-Based Therapy with Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food for
Moderately and Severely Malnourished Children."
Wines, Michael. "Hope for Hungry Children, Arriving in a Foil Packet."
---. "Malnutrition Is Cheating Its Survivors, and Africa's Future."
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