Plumpy’nut – the solution to malnutrition

I recall from my childhood years the huge problems that our nation was facing due to the malnourishment of segments of our rural population.

I recall from my childhood years the huge problems that our nation was facing due to the malnourishment of segments of our rural population. This was true of many developing countries. Perhaps it influenced my choice of career, as a nutritionist.

The problem of malnutrition was compounded by the fact that the only available solution for the problem was fortified milk powder. For its reconstitution, however, getting safe drinking water was, and still is, a major hurdle. Many children died simply due to the accompanying diarrhoea caused by the use of contaminated water. Thus mortality rates in the malnourished population did not seem to go down even with the large-scale distribution of milk powder.

Surprisingly, in spite of all the advances that nutrition science has made, up until a few years ago there did not seem to be a safe, easy, inexpensive and effective way of combating malnutrition. But my faith in my discipline of nutrition has been renewed yet again. I say this because of the role of an inexpensive food product that has saved the lives of millions of malnourished children. The food preparation I refer to is called Plumpy’nut, developed by a French scientist, André Briend.

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Plumpy’nut is prepared from commonplace ingredients— peanut made into a paste with sugar and milk powder and fortified with vitamins and minerals. It tastes like sweet peanut butter and is packaged in foil wrappers. This makes it easy to handle even for the children. All that a child has to do is to squeeze out the paste from the wrapper and eat it.

There is yet another advantage of this product. It is difficult to overeat. Eating in excess of the requirement does pose problems for anyone but could do more harm in malnourished kids. This well-balanced formula ensures that the child gets enough calories from eating just small amounts. Each pack of Plumpy’nut carries 500 calories.

Project Peanut Butter has made a difference of life and death for young children in Africa.

(to be concluded)

nsingh.rxpress@expressindia.com

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