RUTF

RUTF / EDNF:

• Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is also referred as Energy Dense Nutritious Food (EDNF).
  
  
• It is a medical intervention to improve the nutrition intake of children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
  
  
• RUTF is a packaged paste of peanuts, oil, sugar, vitamins, milk powder and mineral supplements, which contains 520-550 kilocalories of energy per 100 g. The paste is given to children aged between six months and six years, usually after a doctor’s prescription.
  
  
• RUTF use is common in Africa, where the incidence of malnutrition among children is high. In India, pilot projects have been taken up in the states of Maharashtra, UP, Bihar and Jharkhand.
  
  
• Arguments against RUTF:
  • Wrong food habit: Children who are given RUTF find it too heavy to eat anything else afterward. Thus, RUTF may replace appropriate food habits.
    
    
  • Not a one-stop solution: RUTF is not a panacea for all forms of severe acute malnutrition in children. They also require inpatient treatment and round the-clock medical care.
    
    
  • Need more study: There is no largescale study of post-RUTF treated children in India so far vis-a-vis other interventions for the management of SAM.
    
    
  
  
  

Recent controversy:

• The disagreement centred around the what kind of food and how it is to be procured under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). Key differences between the two are –