5. Conclusions
breast-fed, anemia, IDA
ANEMIA
Children with SAM presented with a low B12 status, as judged by 3cB12, and generalized deficiencies (IDA and anemia) at admission to treatment. However, treatment with RUTF significantly improved B12 status though it did not normalize 3cB12 in all children. Reduction of the RUTF dose did not impact the final status of B12 biomarkers. Up to 67% of young and breast-fed children still showed B12 status deficiency as judged by 3cB12 at the end of the treatment. More research is needed on the potential benefits of higher levels of RUTF fortification or dietary improvement strategies to increase B12 intake during treatment, or of supplementation after treatment of SAM to normalize B12 status.