Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) among children under five is a serious public health concern in the Philippines. Recently, the Philippines Department of Health and the World Food Programme have promoted a new protocol for the identification and treatment of cases of MAM. This new protocol recommends treating children with MAM with one of three possible supplementary foods: ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF); locally prepared foods with added micronutrient powder; or blended cereals. While the Department of Health primarily promotes RUSF, civil society organizations that fill service gaps may have their own internal protocols. However, no research has investigated the relative effectiveness of these treatment options in the Philippines. Our overall objective is to work with the health-oriented civil society organization International Care Ministries to synthesize current knowledge on supplementary foods for treating MAM and establish a new research project to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of RUSF versus other treatment protocols for MAM. Specific objectives are: (1) to conduct an updated systematic review of the effectiveness of supplementary food interventions for treating childhood MAM; (2) to conduct a scoping review to synthesize literature available on factors that affect the effectiveness of supplementary food interventions, including cultural congruity, allergy concerns, marketing, and stigma; and (3) to strengthen international and local collaborations, refine research priorities, and co-develop a research proposal through stakeholder consultations and a collaborative agenda-setting meeting.