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Below are the results of a study conducted in Sierra-Leone By Carlos Navarro-Colorado and Stephanie Laquiere.
To read the published article, click here
F100 is a high-energy milk that is used for the treatment of severely malnourished children, based on a formula developed by WHO. BP-100™ is a ”Ready To Use Food” (RTUF) in a solid form based on the F100 formula. The product has been developed and is manufactured by Compact AS. Such a product would increase the degree of freedom in the therapeutic feeding of severely malnourished children in a rehabilitation phase, (if the nutritional qualities are as good as F100.)
The main difference between F100 and BP-100™ is that the latter contains iron, and that BP-100 can be served either as a biscuit or as porridge when mixed with water, whereas F100 solely could be served as milk.
To compare the efficiency of BP-100™ with the F100, ACF (Action Contre la Faim) conducted a study in Sierra Leone on a running therapeutic feeding setting for children from 1 to 5 years.
The aim of the study was to determine:
The criteria for children admitted to the study were: ages between 12 and 60 months and a weight to height ratio below 70 percent. Exclusion criteria were severe oedema, partially breast-fed, patients who had developed complication during first phase treatment, and patients with associated diseases.
The children were randomised into two group: one intervention and one control group each comprising 30 children.
In the intervention group the meals were altered between F100 and BP-100™. The order of meals was changed every day. Patients in the control group followed the standard ACF protocol based on 7 feedings of F100-milk per day. Patients in both groups were offered more than the recommend food for each meal. Potable drinking water was offered in a separate cup during and after each meal. All patients received an extra meal of porridge (CSB).
The baseline characteristics of the patients on the day of admission to the centre showed no significant difference between the two groups with regard to age, height to age, height, sex, and presence of oedema. However, the children in the intervention group had an average weight lower than the control group.
| Control group | Intervention group | p-value | |
| Weight (kg) | 7.5 (1.68) | 6.7 (1.3) | 0.0472 |
| WHZ* | -3.1 (0.58) | -3.4 (0.75) | 0.0740 |
| HAZ** | -2.7 (1.46) | -3.0 (1.17) | 0.369 |
* WHZ = weight for height Z-score.
** HAZ = Height for age Z-score
The average energy intake for the children in the two groups was:
Control group: 38.9 kcal/kg/meal
Intervention group: 60.9 kcal/kg/meal
The average water intake (ml/kg) was:
| Group | Meal | During meal | During + after meal |
| Control group | F100 | 38.7 | 42.4 |
| Intervention group | F100 | 37.8 | 41.6 |
| BP-100™ | 13.3 | 18.8 |
Weight gain (g/kg/day) was (standard deviation):
| Control group | Intervention group | p-value | |
| All children | 9.3 (2.9) | 11.6 (4.4) | 0.0525 |
| 12-23 months | 9.4 (3.5) | 10.3 (3.3) | 0.5632 |
| 24-60 months | 9.2 (2.6) | 13.3 (5.3) | 0.274 |
Although some children had oedema it had no effect on the weight gain.
The average energy intake was significant higher for the children receiving BP-100™/F100 than for the children solely eating F100. The difference in energy intake was not to the same extent reflected in the difference in weight gain between the two groups, especially not for the children in the age group 12 – 23 months. For this group the reason could be related to the fact that they received BP-100™ as a biscuit whereas it is recommended that they receive BP-100™ as a porridge for that age group.
There was also a significant lower water intake for the children on BP-100™. Whether this difference in water intake could be related to the lower energy utilisation is not clear.
Read more about BP-100™ Ready to use Therapeutic food (RUTF)
Read more about how to use BP-100™ RUTF
Compact also manufactures another RUTF, eeZeePaste NUT™.
