Sustained Fixes for Nutrition?

Bobbi Nodell

Plumpy'nut, a fortified peanut butter with milk and vitamins, has been hailed as a lifesaver for starving people. But for nutritionists like Dr. Susan Shepherd, who works in nutritional emergencies for Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Plumpy'nut is far from a magic bullet. Not only is it expensive, but there is simply not enough of it. She estimates just 5 percent of the acutely malnourished people, who desperately need therapeutic foods like Plumpy'nut, are getting it.

And while such nutrition-dense foods are lifesavers, they are not a long-term solution. "If you really want to focus on under-nutrition, you need to work in prevention, targeting the golden window of opportunity – conception through the first 24 months," said Katharine Kreis, a senior program officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to the Lancet nutrition series (January 2008), 178 million children under 5 suffer from nutritional deficiencies – 55 million acute and 19.3 million severely acute (wasting). Unlike many diseases, malnutrition has a cure – a balanced diet, regular consumption of fortified foods, supplements when local foods don’t have the nutrients needed, and animal-based products like milk, fish, eggs and cheese.

As Shepherd notes, "Plumpy'nut is the equivalent of a glass of milk and a multivitamin." But for millions of people, essential vitamins and minerals are a luxury they simply cannot afford.