How RUTF Works
What is RUTF?
RUTF (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food) fortified peanut paste that’s been carefully formulated to provide all of a child’s basic nutritional needs. It has been heralded by Doctors Without Borders as a miraculous cure for children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). These are children whose malnutrition is so acute that the most likely prognosis is death. RUTF can bring these children back from the brink of death.
RUTF has been revolutionary because it does not require water, refrigeration or preparation, which makes it the ideal product for treating children with SAM in their communities.
Have You Seen Our RUTF Video?
A child needs to eat about 3 packages of RUTF per day over a period of four to six weeks. During this treatment, children are able to gain up to one pound per week and be brought back from the edge of undernourishment. It is crucial for children to maintain their nutritional level at this age because the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can determine that their full growth prospects. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 98% of children treated with RUTF were well nourished after six months and 96% were well nourished after a year. That is why it is critical that we get RUTF to malnourished children today. Will you help?
What is Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)?
One billion people, or a seventh of the world’s population, are hungry. When children from the ages of 6 to 59 months become severely hungry, they are nine times more likely to die comparing to a healthy child. These young children are said to suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), a condition that presents itself as extremely low weight when compared to height, visible and severe wasting and/or the presence of edema. An estimated 20 million children are currently suffering from SAM. The statistics can be alarming and discouraging, however, SAM is not only preventable but also treatable with RUTF.
How long does a child need to be treated with RUTF?
A child needs to eat about 3 packages of RUTF per day over a period of four to six weeks. During this treatment, children are able to gain up to one pound per week and be brought back from the edge of undernourishment. It is crucial for children to maintain their nutritional level at this age because the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can determine that their full growth prospects.
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 98% of children treated with RUTF were well nourished after six months and 96% were well nourished after a year. That is why it is critical that we get RUTF to starving children today.
Why donate to the Food for Famine Society?
According to a joint statement by the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations, severe acute malnutrition remains a major killer of children under five years of age. RUTF is by far the only cost-effective product that overcomes environmental constraints so that more children’s lives can be saved. Treatments are urgently needed and those severely malnourished children cannot wait.
Since 2009, Food For Famine Society focuses our humanitarian effort in providing RUTF to save the lives of severely malnourished children under the age of five. Our promise to you is to use 100% of your cash donations to purchase Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food so that your donation goes to where it matters the most.