Comparison of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food with Cereal Legume-based Khichri Among Malnourished Children

WHO recommends that severelymalnourished children be fed for afew days on a low protein, lowenergy diet (F75) containing 75 kcal and 0.9 g protein/100 mL, fortified with vitamins and minerals, until life threatening complications are in control(1). The rehabilitation phase then begins with an energy and protein dense (100 kcal and 2.9 gm protein/100 mL) milk based diet (F100) fortified with a vitamin mineral (CMV) mix to promote rapid weight gain. The F100 diet is not recommended for use at home as it requires water for reconstitution, which facilitates growth of pathogenic bacteria. The risk of bacterial contamination with F100 is therefore high, and it needs to be prepared before each meal and cannot be prepared and stored for multiple feeds. Further, F100 resembles infant formula and its promotion may negatively impact breastfeeding. WHO has recommended develop-ment of an alternate therapeutic diet which can be used at the community level(1). In India, khichri (rice and green gram gruel) is often used for the dietary management of moderately malnourished children as a practical and culturally acceptable food for young children. However