Industry experts show urgency to address severe malnutrition

Put focus on Energy-dense Nutritional Supplement

In a recent webinar Deepti Gulati, India’s well-known nutrition and public health specialist has shown an urgent need for consultations between policy makers and the industry manufacturing therapeutic foods to bust the myths around Energy-dense Nutritional Supplement (EDNS) and meet the challenge of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) squarely.

“EDNS has been scientifically proven to be the most vital component in fight against SAM as evident from a number of pilot projects in the country,” said Gulati while speaking at a webinar organised by Elets Technomedia that had speakers from Niti Aayog, Ministry of Ayush, leading corporates working in the field of child nutrition and CMAM Association of India as the knowledge partner.

Quoting her own experiences from the immensely successful Rajasthan Poshan Project, one of the largest Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) projects in the country, Gulati attributed the success of the project in a large measure to the EDNS provided by members of CMAM Association of India. The project was implemented by National Health Mission, Govt. of Rajasthan and supported by four key development sector organisations including Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), UNICEF, ACF (Action Against Hunger) and Tata trusts.

Held in two phases, Rajasthan Poshan Project witnessed nearly 20000 children coming out of SAM successfully. The first phase held from Dec’15 to Jun’16 had enrolled 9640 children across 13 districts. The second phase had a much wider footprint across 20 districts and enrollment of 10900 children from Jan’18 to May’19. 

According to Gulati, EDNS helped since it provided a concentrated source of energy and nutrition. An agency was hired for independent validation which showed that the majority of children recovered did not slip back.

Gulati stated that RUTF is not a replacement for Take Home Ration (THR). In fact, THR is a food supplement while RUTF is therapeutic and for limited duration. In case of severely malnourished children, appetite is much less. The child can’t consume much quantity but needs an increase in food intake. So, the child needs a concentrated source of energy, proteins and micronutrients which are available in RUTF.