Testing Enov'Mum™ with a women focus group, south of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
In addition to its products for the management of acute malnutrition, Nutriset has developed and tested new ready-to-use solutions, designed to prevent chronic malnutrition (stunting) among vulnerable populations.
All nutritional studies highlight the first 1000 days of life, from conception to two years, as crucial for the development of a child. For children affected by chronic malnutrition (stunting) during this critical period, the risks of a hindered growth are negative impacts on their future motor and cognitive development. These often irreversible damages can be prevented by an upstream intervention to ensure good nutritional status of mothers during pregnancy, to encourage exclusive breastfeeding and ensure the good nutrition of infants and toddlers.
Products stemming out of the research partnership iLiNS
The development and testing of new products was conducted as part of the International Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (iLiNS), a research partnership co-directed by Dr. Kathryn G. Dewey (University of California, Davis) and Dr. Per Ashorn (University Tampere Medical School, Finland) involving public and private stakeholders united by the shared commitment to overcome nutritional deficiencies and prevent malnutrition. As the founding member of iLiNS international research consortium, Nutriset has developed a wide variety of nutritional supplements LNS type, such as Nutributter®, tested in efficacy studies.
The iLiNS project was designed based on previous studies, in Ghana and Malawi, that demonstrated that nutrients from lipid-based supplements (LNS) could improve the growth and development of children from low income households. The iLiNS project, together with Nutriset, implemented research in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi to determine the effectiveness of more affordable new formulations, to study the impact of supplementation of children and pregnant and lactating women in LNS, and to explore the economic dimensions related to the use of LNS for the prevention of malnutrition.
Under the iLiNS research partnership, studies have shown that supplementation with lipid core small amount (LNS-SQ for Lipid-based Nutrient Supplement - Small Quantity) enhances the ability of pregnant and lactating women, vulnerable, to give birth to children who do not develop signs of growth retardation and have a good engine development.
Based on these studies, Nutriset has develop a new range of LNS-SQ product now available : Enov®.
The Enov® products in the "1000 Days" programmes
Enov'MumTM is a nutritional support for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, for the proper development of the fetus and infant until the age of six months. This ready-to-use product is taken in addition to the usual diet.
Enov'Nutributter® is destined to children aged 6 to 24 months to prevent stunting and support their motor and cognitive development. This ready-to-use product completes maternal breastfeeding and usual diet.
A micro-nutritional approach, integrating the Enov® range, must be part of a broader framework taking into account the health environment of the child and the mother. Access to water, hygiene and sanitation but also to vaccination, anti-parasite treatments and anti-malarials are all complementary interventions.
Actions at the nutrition level during this 1000 days period, positively impacting health, hygiene and social organization, would save more than one million lives a year. It would significantly reduce the human and financial impact of diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS and also reduce the risk of developing diseases such as diabetes. Such actions also have social consequences on the level of education, access to work and, ultimately, on the development of countries, by allowing better-cared for and better-fed individuals to fully take their place in society.
Within this holistic approach, the Enov® product range is an essential solution for preventing chronic malnutrition and the promotion of healthy growth!
