Child Hunger's Hidden Costs and the Rise of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food

Child undernutrition continues to impose social and economic costs and to reproduce disadvantage across generations. Since the 1990s, ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) and community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) have transformed treatment by enabling safe home-based recovery. However, treatment must be paired with prevention - maternal nutrition, infant feeding, diverse diets, water and sanitation, and social protection - and with investments in supply chains and national health systems to fully break the cycle.

Child hunger still carries heavy social and economic costs

Child undernutrition remains both a moral crisis and an economic drag. Undernourished children face higher illness and death rates, reduced school performance, and lower lifetime earnings. The effects often pass from one generation to the next: women who were malnourished as children are more likely to give birth to low-birthweight babies, perpetuating a cycle of poor growth and poverty.

A 2006 UN report called out the billions in lost productivity from child hunger in Central America and beyond. Since then, global and regional efforts - anchored in the Millennium Development Goals and, more recently, the Sustainable Development Goals - have reduced some forms of malnutrition but have not eliminated them. Current global estimates of children affected by wasting, stunting, and the number of deaths linked to acute malnutrition should be checked against the latest WHO/UNICEF/World Bank joint estimates.

Why hunger persists: poverty, access, and systems

There is enough food produced in the world, but many families still lack reliable access to nutritious food because of poverty, poor social protection, conflict, climate shocks, and market failures. Undernutrition weakens children and adults, reduces productivity, and raises health costs - a downward spiral that hurts individual families and national economies.

Addressing child hunger requires both prevention (maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, infant and young child feeding, food security, social protection) and treatment for those already sick.

A practical innovation: ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF)

A major operational advance since the 1990s has been the development and scale-up of ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF). Developed in the late 1990s by researchers including André Briend and commercialized by companies such as Nutriset, RUTFs like Plumpy'Nut are energy-dense, nutrient-fortified pastes that treat severe acute malnutrition without refrigeration and often at home.

RUTF enabled the community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) model, which shifted treatment out of inpatient feeding centers and into communities. This approach has increased coverage, reduced mortality, and lowered costs for many programs. RUTF typically comes in foil sachets or tubs, stores for months in tropical conditions, and contains the vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fats needed for rapid catch-up growth.

Remaining challenges and next steps

RUTF and CMAM are effective for treating severe cases, but treatment alone won't end child hunger. Countries and donors must combine treatment with stronger prevention: maternal care, food systems that deliver diverse diets, breastfeeding promotion, water and sanitation, social safety nets, and measures that build resilience to climate and economic shocks.

Supply and cost issues also matter. Local production of RUTF has grown, improving supply security and local economies, but procurement, quality control, and integration with national health systems still require investment.

Governments, international agencies, and civil society need to scale both prevention and treatment simultaneously. The evidence supports action - the choice now is political and financial commitment.

1. Update current global and regional estimates for wasting, stunting, and deaths linked to acute malnutrition from the latest WHO/UNICEF/World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (2024/2025).
2. Verify recent economic cost estimates (regional/national) for child undernutrition cited by UN or World Bank reports.
3. Confirm latest data on the scale and geographic distribution of local RUTF production and CMAM coverage.