Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42760042›Full record

SynthesisAdvances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)2026

Local Food Interventions for the Management of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) among Children Aged 6 to 59 Months: A Systematic Review and Non-inferiority Meta-Analysis.

Eskeziaw Abebe Kassahun, Hamid Yimam Hassen, Alinoor Mohamed Farah, Yakob Desalegn Nigatu, Debritu Nane, Emily C Keats, Genet Kiflemariam Paulos, Tesfamichael Awoke Sissay, Kemeria Barsenga, Aweke Kebede and 4 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Eskeziaw Abebe KassahunDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Hamid Yimam HassenDepartment of Family Medicine & Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Environmental Intelligence Unit, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium.
Alinoor Mohamed FarahDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Yakob Desalegn NigatuDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Debritu NaneSchool of Public Health, College of Health Science and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Sodo, Ethiopia; Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States.
Emily C KeatsDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Genet Kiflemariam PaulosDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Tesfamichael Awoke SissayDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Kemeria BarsengaWorld Food Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Aweke KebedeWorld Food Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Robert Ackatia-ArmahWorld Food Program, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Paluku BahwereIndependent Researcher, Brussels, Belgium.
Samson GebremedhinDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Seifu Hagos GebreyesusDepartment of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Public Health and College of Health Science, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Electronic address: seif_h23@yahoo.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) remains a major public health challenge among children aged 6 to 59 mo. Specialized nutritious foods (SNFs) are the standard intervention for the management of MAM; however, their use is constrained by supply chain disruptions, high costs, limited local production, and sustainability challenges, highlighting the need for context-specific alternatives. We conducted a systematic review and non-inferiority meta-analysis to compare local food interventions with SNFs for recovery rate and weight gain among children with MAM. We searched Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System On Line, Excerpta Medica dataBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, ProQuest, and grey literature sources. Randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies comparing local food interventions with SNFs were included. Local food interventions were categorized into the following 2 groups: locally available foods (LAFs), prepared from local ingredients using household or community methods, and locally processed foods (LPFs), produced from locally sourced ingredients through processing and fortification. To demonstrate non-inferiority, the predefined non-inferiority margins were set at 10% for recovery rate and 1.2 g/kg/d for weight gain. Non-inferiority was established when the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval (CI) remained above the corresponding margin. A network meta-analysis was performed to compare the relative effectiveness of LAFs, LPFs, fortified blended food, and ready-to-use supplementary food. Twenty-one studies met the eligibility criteria, and 13 were included in the meta-analyses. For recovery rate, LAFs were inferior to SNFs [risk difference (RD): -0.21; 95% CI: -0.33, -0.08], whereas LPFs were non-inferior (RD: -0.03; 95% CI: -0.09, 0.03). For weight gain, both LAFs [mean difference (MD): -0.33; 95% CI: -0.56, -0.11] and LPFs (MD: -0.32; 95% CI: -0.43, -0.21) resulted in lower weight gain than SNFs but met the predefined non-inferiority criterion. In conclusion, LPFs can serve as effective alternatives to SNFs for managing MAM. Further research is needed to optimize the formulation and effectiveness of LAFs for MAM management. This review was registered at PROSPERO as CRD42024566607.

Indexed as

Child Nutrition DisordersFood, FortifiedFoods, SpecializedMalnutritionChild, PreschoolHumansInfantRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicWeight Gainchild nutritioncommunity-based management of acute malnutritionlocally available foodslocally processed foodsmoderate acute malnutritionnon-inferiority meta-analysisspecialized nutritious foods

Identifiers

PMID42760042
PMCPMC13594452

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.