How can I help?
You can help ensure we have access to the ongoing support and resources necessary to respond rapidly to all the people who need us.
Please support Médecins Sans Frontières today and help us continue to offer emergency medical assistance in all of the resource-poor contexts in which we work.
Tell your friends how important it is for Médecins Sans Frontières to be able to respond rapidly to young children suffering malnutrition.
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Make your own MUAC band
Print and cut-out a life-size
Mid-Upper-Arm Circumference (MUAC) band to see for yourself how tiny a severely malnourished child's arms can be.
We use the MUAC band to identify the level to which a child under five years of age is malnourished before proceeding with a treatment plan.
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How is malnutrition treated?
Introducing MUAC: a tool to determine treatment
MUAC bands are used to measure the severity of malnutrition in children under 5 years. © Anthony Jacopucci /MSF
The Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) band is often the first tool used when screening for malnutrition in children under five. It is wrapped around the child's mid-upper arm and a reading is taken from one of the four coloured zones that will help determine the treatment the child needs. When the MUAC band reading is in the 'red zone' the case is classed as 'severe'.
Download your own MUAC band here.
Outpatient care
Mothers queue to receive ready-to-use therapeutic food for their malnourished children. © Julie Damond/MSF
Moderate and at-risk cases of malnutrition can be treated from our outpatient centres with ready-to-use foods (RUFs) that are packed with high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. RUF is a nut-based paste that doesn't contain water, and is therefore easy to store in hot conditions. Parents can administer this treatment at home and the child's health and general progress can be monitored through visits to Médecins Sans Frontières therapeutic feeding centres. The ability to treat less severe cases as outpatients frees up limited resources that can be used to treat more severely malnourished children who require specialised treatment in hospital.
Inpatient care
A child with malnutrition is examined by Médecins Sans Frontières. © Alice Davies/MSF
Children suffering from complications of severe acute malnutrition may require a highly specialised, urgent medical response. For those who need to be hospitalised and carefully monitored, Médecins Sans Frontières equips therapeutic feeding centres with up to 60 intensive care beds. Treatment includes therapeutic milk via a nasogastric tube, resuscitation, antibiotics, deworming, a check for vaccinations and malaria screening. Children with severe anaemia receive blood transfusions. Once the patient is sufficiently recovered they are able to continue in the program as outpatients with weekly appointments to monitor weight and health status.
