Sierra Leone News: MoHS and Partners Conduct Food Study Review

By Abu Bakarr Munu

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and its development partners including Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, World Food Programme (WFP), Project Peanut Butter, Washington University in St. Louis-School of Medicine, Caritas Bo and Njala University have on Thursday August 22, 2019, reviewed on ‘Four Food Studies’ in Freetown.

The Four Food Study review on Food Aid Quality was co-hosted by the Health and Sanitation Ministry, Project Peanut Butter, Office of Food for Peace and Caritas Bo with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which conducted an assessment on the cost effectiveness of food aid commodities in treating Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) in young children.

The study was carried out in 29 Peripheral Health Units (PHUs) representing all chiefdoms in Pujehun District from April 2017 to December 2018.

The study is based on targeted food delivery to children 6–59 months, who were screened for MAM. The study participants received one of four isoenergetic, test foods Super Cereal Plus (SC+) with amylase-corn-soy Blend Plus (CSB+) and fortified vegetable oil-Corn-soy Whey Blend (CSWB) and fortified vegetable oil–Ready-to-use Supplementary Food (RUSF). The three sub-studies examined environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), body corn position and neurocognition.

Earlier, the Head of Nutrition, MoHS, Aminata Shamit Koroma pointed out that 26.1 % children in Sierra Leone have stunted growth, adding that about 75% of children do not get enough nutrients.

Madam Shamit pointed out that, they made gains in some areas but they still have a long way to go as a country. He said that they are working tirelessly with development partners in order to improve the situation. “If all of us work together, we will not have any problem with malnutrition,” she said.

Giving the summary findings on the comparison of four different supplementary foods in the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) in children, Dr. Beatrice Lorge-Regers from Tufts University, said the selection of the treatment food should be based on cost given that the foods performed comparably across metrics.

Empirical observations of household behaviour provide important insight into determinants of program effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.