Effect of Mass Supplementation with Ready-to-Use Supplementary Food during an anticipated nutritional emergency

Previous studies have shown the benefits of ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) distribution in reducing the incidence and prevalence of severe acute malnutrition

Can we predict the burden of acute malnutrition in crisis-affected countries? Findings from Somalia and South Sudan.

BACKGROUND: Sample surveys are the mainstay of surveillance for acute malnutrition in settings affected by crises but are burdensome and have limited geographical coverage due to insecurity and other access issues. As a possible complement to surveys, we explored a statistical approach to predict the prevalent burden of acute malnutrition for small population strata in two crisis-affected countries, Somalia (2014-2018) and South Sudan (2015-2018). METHODS: For each country, we sourced datasets generated by humanitarian actors or other entities on insecurity, displacement, food insecurity, access to services, epidemic occurrence and other factors on the causal pathway to malnutrition. We merged these with datasets of sample household anthropometric surveys done at administrative level 3 (district, county) as part of nutritional surveillance, and, for each of several outcomes including binary and continuous indices based on either weight-for-height or middle-upper-arm circumference, fitted and evaluated the predictive performance of generalised linear models and, as an alternative, machine learning random forests. RESULTS: We developed models based on 85 ground surveys in Somalia and 175 in South Sudan. Livelihood type, armed conflict intensity, measles incidence, vegetation index and water price were important predictors in Somalia, and livelihood, measles incidence, rainfall and terms of trade (purchasing power) in South Sudan. However, both generalised linear models and random forests had low performance for both binary and continuous anthropometric outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Predictive models had disappointing performance and are not usable for action. The range of data used and their quality probably limited our analysis. The predictive approach remains theoretically attractive and deserves further evaluation with larger datasets across multiple settings

Mise en place et évaluation d'une stratégie alimentaire en vue de la réduction de l'anémie ferriprive en milieu scolaire à Cotonou (Bénin). Rapport final

La stratégie mise en oeuvre, axée sur l'alimentation et une démarche s'appuyant sur la participation active des différents acteurs (directeurs d'école et enseignants, vendeuses, parents d'élèves et élèves), comportait un volet d'amélioration de la qualité nutritionnelle de l'offre d'aliments par les vendeuses de l'école ainsi que des conditions de présentation hygiénique des produits et un volet de stimulation de la demande, par les enfants, d'aliments riches en fer. La créativité culinaire des vendeuses a été sollicitée suite à une information sur la teneur en fer des aliments disponibles à Cotonou. Un programme pédagogique visant à créer chez les enfants une attitude favorable et un comportement conscient d'orientation de leurs achats vers des produits riches en fer a été conçu par les inspecteurs, conseillers pédagogiques et enseignants. Il a été mis en oeuvre et soutenu par un concours de dessins d'enfants. Des dosages d'hémoglobine ont été réalisés chez un peu plus de 150 enfants du groupe scolaire où la stratégie était testée ainsi que d'un nombre équivalent d'enfants d'un groupe scolaire témoin. Divers autres indicateurs ont été mesurés (argent de poche, attitudes et connaissances des enfants, apports nutritionnels à et hors du domicile) et diverses observations réalisée

Effects of unconditional cash transfers on the outcome of treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM): a cluster-randomised trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Cash transfer programs (CTPs) aim to strengthen financial security for vulnerable households. This potentially enables improvements in diet, hygiene, health service access and investment in food production or income generation. The effect of CTPs on the outcome of children already severely malnourished is not well delineated. The objective of this study was to test whether CTPs will improve the outcome of children treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over 6 months.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe