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Globally, nearly half of deaths among children under five years-old are linked to hunger and 45 million children experience “wasting” – severe and rapid weight loss when children become too thin for their height, and their body is at risk of shutting down.
It is essential that children experiencing malnutrition and wasting receive treatment as quickly and efficiently as possible. Unfortunately, families living in poverty often face multiple obstacles when it comes to getting the care they need for their children.
That’s where RUTF comes in. Here, we answer the most common questions about this life-saving food source.
What does RUTF stand for?
RUTF stands for ready-to-use therapeutic food. It commonly comes in paste form, although there are also biscuit versions. The most common brand of RUTF is Plumpy’Nut.
What is RUTF made of?
The high-energy paste consists of peanuts, oil, sugar, milk powder, and vitamin and mineral supplements. It has around 500 calories per package, and provides all the nutrients required for recovery from acute malnutrition. It can be eaten by children as young as six months old.
What does RUTF do?
RUTF provides a relatively simple and effective treatment for malnutrition and wasting in children. It’s a food source that saves lives.
Children facing severe malnutrition have specific dietary needs, as their bodies are no longer able to process a normal diet. RUTF has a high calorie count and is formulated with the minerals and vitamins children experiencing malnutrition need to survive, so that they can gain weight, become healthy, and finally begin to eat regularly again. It also has a sweet taste, which encourages children who have lost their appetite to eat more.
Children who are malnourished are prescribed RUTF, such as Plumpy’Nut, by a medical professional. How much and how often they will eat RUTF depends on their starting weight and the target weight, however it could be up to 3 packets a day for 4-8 weeks. RUTF can be consumed along with breastfeeding, and it is encouraged that mothers continue to breastfeed if possible.
How effective is RUTF?
With RUTF, it’s true what they say – good things come in small packages. One of the things that makes RUTF so effective is that it’s designed to be used at home by parents or caregivers.
In many settings, particularly among the poorest and most vulnerable communities, many malnourished children are not brought to a health facility at all. There are several reasons for this – for example, clinics are not always close to communities and families may not be able to afford the price of a bus or motorbike, leaving them to walk hours to get medical care. Even if families can reach a clinic, they may not be able to afford treatment for their child; or if treatment means staying in the hospital for multiple days, they may not be able to do so as it prevents them from taking care of their other children or going to work.
That’s where RUTF comes in. Because RUTF is not water-based, the risk of bacterial growth is very limited, and consequently it is safe to use without refrigeration at household level. It has a good shelf life (up to two years) and does not spoil easily. All of this means that RUTF makes malnutrition treatment much more accessible, so children can recover at home with their families.
Additionally, needing water to administer treatment is particularly dangerous in many of the countries we work in due to waterborne bacteria and disease being prevalent. With RUTF, children who are already weak are not put at risk of further illness through their treatment.
RUTF has saved the lives of millions of children, with 90% of children who receive RUTF recovering from severe wasting.
Can RUTF packages be recycled?
Previously RUTF packages have been difficult to recycle, but this is changing. In fact, Concern recently worked with a local company, Karö Enterprise, to collect over 59kg of RUTF packaging in Chad - that's around 12,800 empty packages. These were recycled into 600 bricks and paving stones for use in construction.
In the past, the packaging - made from a variety of materials including aluminium and plastic - was often discarded around the countryside in Chad, becoming litter due to a lack of waste disposal facilities.
“We wanted to do something to reduce the litter and pollution that was being caused by the red and white RUTF food packaging that ended up across the land and environment.” said Clémence Eberschweiler, Country Director with Concern in Chad.
“While it was a pilot project, the positive outcomes and reduction in litter show that small changes can make a huge difference, and we look forward to using these bricks in our own infrastructure projects in the future.”
Does Concern provide RUTF?
Yes, Concern works in 26 countries around the world to end extreme poverty. Addressing hunger and malnutrition is one of the main focuses of our work.
RUTF is one of many ways we work with communities to deliver support for children with acute malnutrition. Concern uses what is called the “surge approach” to support communities’ health systems so they can effectively deliver services for children with acute malnutrition.
In 2024, Concern supported treatment services for 89,880 children with severe acute malnutrition, and targeted supplementary feeding for 256,828 children with moderate acute malnutrition.
