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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #376461
Research Project: Microbiota and Nutritional Health

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Role of optimized plant protein combinations as a low-cost alternative to dairy ingredients in foods for prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition

Author
item MANARY, MARK - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item CALLAGHAN-GILLESPIE, MEGHAN - Washington University School Of Medicine

Submitted to: Nestle Nutrition Workshop
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2019
Publication Date: 1/28/2020
Citation: Manary, M., Callaghan-Gillespie, M. 2020. Role of optimized plant protein combinations as a low-cost alternative to dairy ingredients in foods for prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition. Nestle Nutrition Workshop. 93:111-120. https://doi.org/10.1159/000503347.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000503347

Interpretive Summary: Milk is currently an essential component of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), which is used to treat severe acute malnutrition (SAM), however only 20% of children with SAM are able to be treated worldwide. A review of studies replacing or removing milk from RUTF as a way to reduce the cost found that this resulted in less recovery. Alternative protein sources are typically lower cost and have shown to be adequate in less severe malnutrition.

Technical Abstract: Tackling the global burden of acute malnutrition in children remains a major public health challenge and is essential for achieving sustainable development. Despite having effective treatment options, most wasted children go untreated; treatment coverage for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) children is only about 20%. Milk is currently an essential component of effective SAM treatment, incorporated into ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). Reaching the untreated children, as well as preventing SAM, requires investment in innovative and cost-efficient approaches. To date, attempts to replace or remove milk from RUTF have been either unsuccessful or unpersuasive. This is likely because milk provides the highest protein quality and density of all typical RUTF ingredients. However, alternative protein sources could provide cost savings. Alternative protein sources, especially plant-based protein alternatives, have had shown more promising progress for the treatment of children with moderate acute malnutrition. Acknowledging that cost is a major barrier to the scale-up of treatment of acute malnutrition and that alternative protein sources are a practical means to reduce cost, continued research focusing on alternative proteins is necessary.