Plumpy’nut – a cure for malnutrition!!!

Plumpy’nut is made out of a concoction of peanut butter, vegetable oil and powdered milk which are enriched with vitamins and minerals and requires no cooking or refrigeration. It has an estimated shelf life of 2 years when unopened and is categorized by WHO as a cheap, easy to make and ready to use therapeutic food that’s considered by Nobel prize winning relief “Doctors Without Borders” as the most important advance ever to cure and prevent malnutrition. The standard treatment is usually set to 4 weeks for about 2 to 3 times a day and reverses malnutrition problems in severely malnourished children.

Plumpy’nut has been one of the key tools used to save thousands of lives during the crisis in 2005 across Niger. This high protein, high energy, peanut based paste comes in easy to transport and distribute foil wrappers or small plastic tubs. Children actually love its sweet taste and easily eat them. Children typically return to a healthy weight in 3 to 4 weeks. Fortunately Plumpy’nut has helped organizations and volunteers to save severely malnourished children who do not even survived in clinical conditions. With its discovery, it has successfully cut death rates in half.

Malnutrition damages the immune system. A room crowded with sick children is considered as a perfect breeding ground for infection. The only likely solution is home treatment made possible by distributing Plumpy’nut without worries on handling and shipping contaminated milk and dirty water. Plumpy’nut opens a lot of oors to fulfill any person’s mission to save lives. A child can definitely feed himself to it and just self regulate!

Maybe you would want to help and contribute or coordinate with WHO. There is nothing more important that you can give to the world but the act of love and compassion saving children’s lives who may grow to be good leaders someday. Plumpy’nut is not so expensive to give now than the options we had before. Production is minimal and least costly if done locally I guess. Good idea?