Toddler Food Partners

Toddler Food Partners' mission is to support the treatment of malnourished children in the developing world.

42% of the world’s malnourished children live in India

 Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is characterized by stunting and severe wasting, a common site in India. These children are frequently sick and susceptible to infections. Many die. Those that survive may suffer brain damage and a lifetime on the margins of society.

These children need treatment in the form of high-protein energy-dense food fortified with vitamins and minerals. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) which meets these requirements has been internationally tested and recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the most effective way to treat SAM.

Toddler Food Partners (TFP) collaborated with organizations in Mumbai to produce MNT for a clinical trial comparing MNT to Standard Nutrition Therapy (SNT) at Sion Hospital. TFP volunteers installed equipment in March 2011.

TFP has provided more than $50,000 in funding for the clinical trial over the past couple of years. The first phase of the clinical study is complete and the favorable results were presented at a conference in Nepal in September 2013 and Brazil in 2015.

We are actively supporting additional phases, working with a local NGO testing three modes of MNT delivery to SAM children in the slums of Mumbai:

• Setting up special daycare centers for malnourished children
• Using mobile vans to distribute MNT
• Having field workers deliver MNT for home based treatment
  

TFP focuses on the manufacturing process of RUTF. Their key role is selecting and obtaining the necessary equipment to manufacture RUTF on site. TFP, an all-volunteer organization, works with partner organizations that already have established sites in the developing world. All donations support the evaluation, design, selection, modification, assembly, acquisition, installation and support of equipment to manufacture RUTF locally.

RUTF is a peanut butter type mixture made with locally available ingredients to the extent possible and supplemented with vitamins and minerals. After extensive research in the developing world, it was endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007. It is now the established treatment to combat severe malnutrition worldwide.

Toddler Food Partners helps obtain the equipment necessary to manufacture RUTF at a local level in developing countries. Donations and volunteers help support our projects.