Abstract:

Natural disasters are widespread and affect millions of people globally every year. The resulting malnutrition often dramatically increases mortality among older infants and young children. The present paper reviews the common nutritional problems that exist in this vulnerable group, and discusses the importance of complementary food supplement (CFS) usage and the essential practices in CFS usage for older infants and young children during natural disasters. After a serious destructive event, malnutrition in young children becomes a more serious public health priority that includes protein-energy malnutrition, iron-deficiency and anaemia, vitamin A and D deficiencies and other micronutrient deficiencies. Effectively targeted interventions for the vulnerable group using CFSs would improve their nutritional status, decrease the risks associated with malnutrition and infectious diseases and have a long-term and persistent impact on subsequent growth and development. The essential practices in CFS usage for older infants and young children at home play an important role in improving nutritional status and are the predominant approach to controlling malnutrition. These include: (1) CFSs with a matrix rich in protein fortified with multiple micronutrients which are suitable for mild malnutrition groups or prevent deficiencies; (2) CFSs without matrix such as micronutrient Sprinkles which are single-dose sachets containing iron and other multiple micronutrients to prevent anaemia, iron and other micronutrient deficiencies; and (3) lipid-based nutrient supplements which include ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF). RUTFs are generally higher in energy density (>700 kcal/d) than RUTF (.500 kcal/d). RUTFs have been proven to be effective in the community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition, while RUSFs have been used to treat mild or moderate acute malnutrition and prevent the progression from moderate acute malnutrition to severe acute malnutrition.