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

This is the executive summary of an independent systematic review commissioned by the Humanitarian Evidence Programme – a partnership between Oxfam GB and Feinstein International Center at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University. It was funded by aid from the United Kingdom (UK) government through the Humanitarian Innovation and Evidence (HIEP) Programme at the Department for International Development.

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM, or severe wasting) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM, or moderate wasting) affect 52 million children under five years of age around the globe. The systematic review, commissioned by the Humanitarian Evidence Programme and carried out by a research team from the University of Sheffield, represents the first attempt to apply systematic review methodology to establish the relationships between recovery and relapse and between default rates and repeated episodes of default or relapse in the management of acute malnutrition in children in humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries.