{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T12:35:07Z","timestamp":1791462907417,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,3]],"date-time":"2023-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680480000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"World Health Organisation","award":["202721713"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202721713"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that severe wasting and\/or oedema should be treated with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) at a dose of 150\u2013220 kcal\/kg\/day for 6\u20138 weeks. Emerging evidence suggests that variations of RUTF dosing regimens from the WHO recommendation are not inferior. We aimed to assess the comparative efficacy and effectiveness of different RUTF doses and durations in comparison with the current WHO RUTF dose recommendation for treating severe wasting and\/or oedema among 6\u201359-month-old children. A systematic literature search identified three studies for inclusion, and the outcomes of interest included anthropometric recovery, anthropometric measures and indices, non-response, time to recovery, readmission, sustained recovery, and mortality. The study was registered with PROSPERO, CRD 42021276757. Only three studies were eligible for analysis. There was an overall high risk of bias for two of the studies and some concerns for the third study. Overall, there were no differences between the reduced and standard RUTF dose groups in all outcomes of interest. Despite the finding of no differences between reduced and standard-dose RUTF, the studies are too few to conclusively declare that reduced RUTF dose was more efficacious than standard RUTF.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu15071750","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,4]],"date-time":"2023-04-04T01:35:59Z","timestamp":1680572159000},"page":"1750","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["A Systematic Review on the Optimal Dose and Duration of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for 6\u201359-Month-Old Children with Severe Wasting or Oedema"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4583-7683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Blessings H.","family":"Likoswe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7238-1469","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernadette","family":"Chimera-Khombe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Noel","family":"Patson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Apatsa","family":"Selemani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3494-534X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Isabel","family":"Potani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"},{"name":"Translational Medicine Program, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 1X8, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Phuka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kenneth","family":"Maleta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Private Bag 360, Chichiri, Blantyre 312225, Malawi"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17067","DOI":"10.1038\/nrdp.2017.67","article-title":"Severe childhood malnutrition","volume":"3","author":"Bhutta","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. 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