Malnutrition Forum

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Cornell University, World Vision-Haiti and USAID's Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) project conducted a study that compared two methods of targeting and delivering food-assisted Maternal and Child Health Nutrition programmes in Haiti. The first program used a recuperative approach that provided nine months of food and other health and nutrition assistance to children six months to five years of age who were identified as underweight. The second program used a preventive approach that targeted all children 6-23 months of age with similar food and health and nutrition services until they were 24 months of age.

Communities receiving interventions through preventive programmmes had lower prevalence of undernutrition than those receiving the recuperative programme. This shows that interventions that aim to prevent undernutrition can be much more effective than those that target children once they have become undernourished.

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