Evidence Brief: Recovery, Relapse, and Episodes of Default in the Management of Acute Malnutrition in Children in Humanitarian Emergencies

This evidence brief provides an overview of Recovery, relapse and episodes of default in the management of acute malnutrition in children in humanitarian emergencies – a systematic review published in March 2017 by the Humanitarian Evidence Programme and carried out by a team from the University of Sheffield. It summarizes key findings in response to the two main research questions identified, indicates the country contexts from which evidence is drawn, outlines the methodology, highlights research gaps and provides references to the original literature.

The brief aims to assist policymakers, practitioners and researchers in assessing the available evidence in this field. It does not provide advice on which interventions or approaches are more or less appropriate in any given context. The varied and varying nature of crisis, vulnerability, goals of humanitarian programming, local conditions and quality of available data make the evidence highly contextual.