\ninsecure settings. They deliver essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals alongside the family diet,
\nand have been shown to reduce childhood wasting, stunting, and anemia<\/a>. Unlike a ready-to-use
\ntherapeutic food (RUTF), which treats children who are already severely wasted, SQ-LNS is
\npreventive \u2014 it is given to children who are growing normally in order to keep them that way. That
\ndistinction has consequences. RUTF appears on the WHO Model Essential Medicines List for
\nChildren and on many national lists; SQ-LNS is on almost none. Where SQ-LNS reaches children at
\nall, it usually does so through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or time-limited UNICEF
\nprograms rather than through national health systems.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/sargent\/files\/2026\/08\/04_GHS_child_welfare_clinic-636x477.jpg\")
The research focuses on the practical implementation of SQ-LNS through its packaging. Dr. Adu- Rather than measure children\u2019s growth, the trial measures how much supplement comes back. \u201cIt\u2019s a narrow question, and that\u2019s the point,\u201d says Dr. Locks. \u201cEverything about this supplement The project is funded by Edesia Nutrition<\/a>, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing global Dr. Locks\u2019 partnership with Edesia grew out of earlier research in global nutrition. She, Dr. Lauer and \u201cHold the two sachets next to each other and they look like the same product. One is on the WHO<\/p>\n essential medicines list and moves through national systems. The other has almost nowhere to go,\u201d Dr. Locks directs BU\u2019s Global Nutrition Lab<\/a> with Dr. Lauer and Dr. Hayford M. Avedzi, a clinical
\nAfarwuah and the Ghana-based study team, headquartered in Tamale, chose the study districts,
\nKumbungu and Tolon, and built the trial around the child welfare clinic visits the health service
\nalready runs. Sixteen facilities will compare a weekly and a daily format, enrolling roughly 505
\ncaregiver-child pairs beginning in September. Dr. Jacqueline M. Lauer, a clinical associate professor
\nin BU\u2019s Global Nutrition Lab, is in Ghana this month for the study team\u2019s training. Both formats
\ndeliver the same 28-day supply and the same daily nutritional content \u2014 either 28 single-serve 20-
\ngram sachets, or four resealable pouches holding seven days each. What differs is what the
\npackaging asks of the person using it. A daily sachet requires no decision: the packet is the dose. A
\nseven-day pouch is fewer units for a health system to ship, store and hand out, but it asks the
\ncaregiver to measure out each day\u2019s portion and reseal the rest. The trial is registered as
\nNCT07129109<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nCaregivers return what is left at their next clinic visit and the study team weighs it, and at two
\npoints caregivers are asked to open the package and dispense one day\u2019s dose while an enumerator watches. If the weekly pouch performs as well as the daily sachets in caregivers\u2019 hands, health
\nsystems gain a format that is simpler to supply at scale without costing children anything.<\/p>\n
\nworks except the part where it reaches a child every day for months on end. The question isn\u2019t
\nwhether a mother can manage a seven-day pouch. It\u2019s whether the pouch is worth what it asks of
\nher, and the only way to find that out is to ask her.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"\"](\"\/sargent\/files\/2026\/08\/03_Locks_Edesia_North_Kingstown_RI-1-477x636.jpg\")
\nmalnutrition. Edesia manufactures both RUTF and SQ-LNS, including Plumpy\u2019Nut, which it makes
\nunder license from Nutriset. After the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which
\nfunded global nutrition programs, ceased operations in July 2025 and its remaining programs
\nmoved to the State Department, Edesia has since expanded beyond manufacturing into building
\ncoalitions to deliver life-saving aid<\/a>. The innocent foundation and Groupe Nutriset are also partners
\nin the trial.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Davidson Hamer previously received funding through Boston University\u2019s Center on Forced
\nDisplacement to study the use of SQ-LNS in displaced communities<\/a>. The project introduced the
\nresearchers to Edesia and laid the groundwork for their current collaboration.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/sargent\/files\/2026\/08\/01_RUTF_and_SQLNS_sachets-636x477.jpg\")
\nsays Dr. Locks. \u201cThat gap isn\u2019t about the evidence. We\u2019ve built a pathway for treating a child who is
\nalready severely malnourished, and we haven\u2019t built one for keeping a child from getting there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nassistant professor and epidemiologist trained at the University of Ghana and the University of
\nAlberta. The lab works with partners in Ghana, India and Zambia.<\/p>\n