Today, one in nine people, or 820 million people worldwide, suffer from hunger or malnutrition. Of these, 13.6 million children under the age of 5 suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
Early detection of malnutrition enables us to avoid the worst rather than waiting until children are in a urgent nutritional situation.
Children under the age of 5 are often the most affected by acute malnutrition. So how can malnutrition be detected in good time?
The Mid-Upper Arm Circumference tape, also known as the MUAC tape, looks like a simple colored tape. It is a truly innovative and easy-to-use tool that allows mothers to simply and quickly detect malnutrition while at home and without the help of healthcare workers.
It can be used on children from 6 months to 5 years old. Simply wrap it around the child's arm and use the color code to define the child's degree of malnutrition. Green means that there is no acute malnutrition detected by MUAC, yellow means that the child is in a situation of moderate acute malnutrition and red indicates severe acute malnutrition.
This rapid diagnosis of malnutrition enables rapid treatment of vulnerable children, thus saving lives.
Based on the latest UNICEF and WFP protocol, the pictograms on the back of the tape give the instructions for use.
The bracelets are made in France, in an environmentally friendly manner using ecological and biodegradable paper and a non-toxic ink.
The Covid-19 crisis has radically altered care protocols, particularly at community level, and has made it more difficult to screen malnourished children. Against this backdrop, with support from UNICEF, Nutriset inserted MUAC tapes inside all of its cartons produced in December 2020.
Following this initiative, feedback from the field highlighted the importance of equipping mothers and healthcare workers on the front line of screening with the MUAC tape. Nutriset therefore wished to systematically offer this tool, as a complement to its products.
Possessing superior quality and available at an attractive price, MUAC tapes aim to extend early detection in cases of acute malnutrition.
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Contact us: operations@nutriset.fr / +33 (0) 2 32 93 82 82