Nutrient Content and Sensory Acceptability of Home‐Based Therapeutic Food to Treat Children 6–59 Months With Moderate Acute Malnutrition

Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) among children under 5 years old has been a daunting problem of public health significance in Ethiopia over the past half century, with its magnitude increasing over time. With dwindling global resources, the preparation of local solutions that can help to curb this problem is critically important. The objective of this study was to develop and analyze eight home-based therapeutic foods to treat MAM in children aged 6-59 months. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze differences in means with ± standard deviation of nutrient measurements among the samples. The nutrient contents ranged from 4.56% to 8.79% for moisture, 28.06% to 34.62% for fat, 10.03% to 13.91% for protein, and for energy, 498.31 kcal to 529.81 kcal/100 g of edible portion. The mineral contents ranged from 100.47 mg to 115.51 mg for calcium, 5.01 mg to 6.74 mg for zinc, 8.39 mg to 11.34 mg for iron, 544.15 mg to 661.54 mg for potassium, and 442.54 mg to 451.84 mg for phosphorus contents is adequate. The peanut (P), chickpea (C), maize (M), and orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP) (PCMOFSP⁴) with the highest portion of peanut seed flour had significantly the highest amounts of protein, fat, calories, iron, zinc, and potassium. These results were within the recommended range of required nutrients for the treatment of children with MAM. Therefore, home-based therapeutic food may be used for the management of children with MAM. Enrich the formulation with micronutrients such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and calcium. Policies should prioritize advancing the creation of locally sourced, home-based therapeutic foods to address MAM in children, while also fostering stronger collaboration between agricultural and nutrition sectors to ensure that sustainable, accessible solutions are recommended.