Dietary treatment of severe malnutrition in adults

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two diets, differing primarily in protein content, on the nutritional rehabilitation of severely malnourished adults. The study took place in the Concern Worldwide Adult Therapeutic Feeding Centre in Baidoa, the town at the epicenter of the 1992 famine in Somalia. The response to treatment in 573 patients admitted to the center between November 1992 and March 1993 was studied. Mortality, appetite, rates of edema loss, and weight gain in 2 groups of patients receiving either a higher-protein (16.4% of energy from protein) or lower-protein (8.5% of energy from protein) diet were compared. Among edematous patients, the use of the lower-protein diet during the initial phase of treatment was associated with a threefold decrease in mortality (P < 0.05) and accelerated resolution of edema (P < 0.05). Among marasmic patients, no differences in mortality or rate of weight gain were observed. The large reduction in mortality associated with the use of the lower-protein diet in edematous patients appeared to be due to the lower amount of dietary protein. However, differences in the 2 diets other than or in addition to the protein content may have contributed. Notwithstanding, the data obtained suggest strongly that severely malnourished adults, particularly those with edema, recover more successfully with a diet of lower protein content than usually recommended. The lower-protein diet used in this study was much cheaper and more easily obtained than the conventional higher-protein diets in Baidoa.