Nutrition Officer
Normal user
7 Jan 2018, 06:57
I am working in a setting where childhood anemia is 40 to 60% for total anemia and 15 to 25% for Moderate and severe anemia. CMAM program is running in the area for quite a long time.
While there are clear guidelines on administration of folic acid for SAM children with Anemia (WHO 2013, National SAM protocols) it is not clear how to manage MAM children in TSFP with Anemia. We are considering to do the same (provide FA for Anemic cases) for MAM children. Does any one have similar experience? What will be the likely dangers or unwanted effects? What hemoglobin cut-off point should we use to guide the supplementation for children on RUSF?
Nutrition Specialist/ Save the Children
Normal user
8 Jan 2018, 12:04
Folic acid is existing in the RUSF sachets and this amount is enough to treat sub clinical anemia due to folic acid deficiency. And it is good if we you give folic acid(one tablet of 5 mg) to the those with clinical manifestations of anemia. But this is not the radical treatment. Treatment approach should be applied based on the anemia cause, is it folic acid deficiency anemia, is it iron deficiency anemia, is it due to other causes else?
Best
Public health nutrition
Frequent user
9 Jan 2018, 04:37
The protocols for treatment of MAM children with medical complications are same as those of SAM.
It is hard to know the causes of anemia unless in depth data is available-