Nutritional Management of Malnourished Children
The nutritional management of sick and malnourished children is another component of USAID's nutrition programming. USAID supports approaches to rehabilitate malnourished children such as community-based therapeutic care and the Hearth Nutrition Model.
Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC)
CTC is a community-based care approach to managing large numbers of acutely malnourished people in times of stress. The CTC approach treats the majority of the severely malnourished at home and uses outreach teams to promote community participation and behavioral change. CTC aims to build community capacity to manage and better respond to repeated cycles of relief and recovery. Providing appropriate therapeutic foods containing the right mix of nutrients that will aid in recuperation is central to home-based care for the severely malnourished. Ready to use therapeutic foods (RUTF) have been specially designed for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition. RUTF can be manufactured locally, thereby increasing availability and reducing costs.
Positive Deviance (PD)/Hearth Approach
The Positive Deviance (PD)/Hearth approach was introduced in Haiti, Vietnam and Bangladesh in the early 1990s. The PD/Hearth approach has evolved from earlier community-based approaches to alleviating childhood malnutrition. It focuses on energizing volunteer mothers to rehabilitate malnourished children using local, affordable and nutritious foods for two weeks in the context of a growth monitoring and counseling program. The visible change in children is a powerful motivator for mothers to continue good feeding behaviors acquired through adult learning practices (self-discovery, learning by doing) in the PD/Hearth feeding sessions. PD/Hearth programs are meant to be supported by other programs such as deworming, growth monitoring, income generation and micronutrient supplementation.
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Infant and Young Child Feeding
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