NEW YORK — The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million children worldwide suffer from severe acute malnutrition right now. This untenable condition leads to a child dying every five seconds in regions such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and South Asia, known as the world's "malnutrition hot spots." Yet, some recent developments have the potential of eliminating the enormous threat to survival that malnutrition poses to children.

Malnutrition has a severe effect on children's health since it weakens resistance to germs that cause pneumonia, malaria, diarrhea, measles and AIDS, which together are responsible for half of deaths of children under 5. Those children that survive acute malnutrition suffer from stunted growth and developmental delays that will affect them the rest of their lives. Inadequate diets mainly affect young children, since they have very specific nutritional needs.

Recently UNICEF and organizations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, have been promoting the use of a highly nutritious, ready-to-use food specifically designed for young children. RUF has already achieved significant success in fighting malnutrition. In 2006, MSF treated more than 150,000 children in 99 program sites in 22 countries.