Trial reportBMC medicine2015
Ready-to-use therapeutic food with elevated n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid content, with or without fish oil, to treat severe acute malnutrition: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01593969 (A Randomised Controlled Trial of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Enriched Therapeutic Food for Childhood Severe Malnutrition), which is not on this map. Cited by 34 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Randomised Controlled Trial of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Enriched Therapeutic Food for Childhood Severe Malnutrition
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of fatty acid profiles in varying recipes of ready-to-use therapeutic foods on neurodevelopmental and clinical outcomes of children (6-59 months) with severe wasting: a systematic review.Nutrition reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of Fish-Based Diet on Malnourished Children: A Systematic Review.Iranian journal of medical sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Postdischarge interventions for children hospitalized with severe acute malnutrition: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for home-based nutritional rehabilitation of severe acute malnutrition in children from six months to five years of age.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Interventions to improve linear growth during complementary feeding period for children aged 6-24 months living in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Gates open research · 2019Pooled it
- Low linoleic acid foods with added DHA given to Malawian children with severe acute malnutrition improve cognition: a randomized, triple-blinded, controlled clinical trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Trial
- Effect of topical applications of sunflower seed oil on systemic fatty acid levels in under-two children under rehabilitation for severe acute malnutrition in Bangladesh: a randomized controlled trial.Nutrition journal · 2021Trial
- Artificial intelligence for gait and balance in neurological disorders: a scoping review of clinical applications and technologies.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Dietary fish oil improves intestinal barrier function and intestinal microbiota composition and reduces systemic inflammation in a mouse model of moderate acute malnutrition.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- Article
- A Global Scoping Review on Alternative Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Classifying autism in a clinical population based on motion synchrony: a proof-of-concept study using real-life diagnostic interviews.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Gut Microbiome-Targeted Nutrition Interventions and Growth among Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current developments in nutrition · 2024Article
- Developmental and Nutritional Changes in Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition Provided withNutrients · 2024Article
- Inflammation: the driver of poor outcomes among children with severe acute malnutrition?Nutrition reviews · 2023Review
- Docosahexaenoic Acid Stability in Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundReady-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) are lipid-based pastes widely used in the treatment of acute malnutrition. Current specifications for RUTF permit a high n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content and low n-3 PUFA, with no stipulated requirements for preformed long-chain n-3 PUFA. The objective of this study was to develop an RUTF with elevated short-chain n-3 PUFA and measure its impact, with and without fish oil supplementation, on children's PUFA status during treatment of severe acute malnutrition.
methodsThis randomized controlled trial in children with severe acute malnutrition in rural Kenya included 60 children aged 6 to 50 months who were randomized to receive i) RUTF with standard composition; ii) RUTF with elevated short chain n-3 PUFA; or iii) RUTF with elevated short chain n-3 PUFA plus fish oil capsules. Participants were followed-up for 3 months. The primary outcome was erythrocyte PUFA composition.
resultsErythrocyte docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) content declined from baseline in the two arms not receiving fish oil. Erythrocyte long-chain n-3 PUFA content following treatment was significantly higher for participants in the arm receiving fish oil than for those in the arms receiving RUTF with elevated short chain n-3 PUFA or standard RUTF alone: 3 months after enrollment, DHA content was 6.3% (interquartile range 6.0-7.3), 4.5% (3.9-4.9), and 3.9% (2.4-5.7) of total erythrocyte fatty acids (P <0.001), respectively, while eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) content was 2.0% (1.5-2.6), 0.7% (0.6-0.8), and 0.4% (0.3-0.5) (P <0.001). RUTF with elevated short chain n-3 PUFA and fish oil capsules were acceptable to participants and carers, and there were no significant differences in safety outcomes.
conclusionsPUFA requirements of children with SAM are not met by current formulations of RUTF, or by an RUTF with elevated short-chain n-3 PUFA without additional preformed long-chain n-3 PUFA. Clinical and growth implications of revised formulations need to be addressed in large clinical trials.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT01593969. Registered 4 May 2012.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.