The Effectiveness And Challenges Of Food By Prescription (FBP) Firstfood ® In The Management Of Moderate Malnutrition Among Under-Five Year Old Children In Karemo Division, Siaya County, Keny

Malnutrition in children remains as a significant global problem, accounting for up to 56% of the 10.6 million child deaths annually in developing countries. Kenya like many sub-Saharan African countries has had the highest case fatality of malnutrition, AIDS and tuberculosis (TB). Various interventions have been put in place to combat the under-five malnutrition in line with the realization of millennium development goal (MDG) number 4. Nationally, the Kenya‟s Ministry of Health (MoH) in collaboration with international and local agencies has been rolling out a “ready to use food therapy” programme dubbed “Food by Prescription (FBP)” since the year 2006 targeting moderately malnourished children. This product is locally manufactured by Insta Products and comes in form of pre-cooked corn soy blend porridge flour. Despite the roll out of this programme, very little is known about its effectiveness in improving nutritional status of moderately malnourished children which was one of its core mandates. This study sought to assess the effectiveness of FBP (Firstfood) in the management of moderate malnutrition (MM) among under-five year old children in Karemo division of Siaya District. The study design was a prospective cohort to allow comparison of the anthropometric measurements at baseline and three months later at exit to test for any significant improvement. Three months was recommended by the product guideline to allow for any meaningful change in nutritional status and the children were exited regardless of the outcome.  A total of 215 children with MM (Z score