NRC – Nutrition Rehabilitation Center

Acute malnutrition or wasting is a failure to gain weight or actual weight loss caused by inadequate food intake, incorrect feeding practices, infections or a combination of these. Considered both a medical and social disorder, Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is defined by very low weight for height (Z-score below -3 SD of the median WHO child growth standards), or a mid-upper arm circumference <115 mm/<11.5cm, or by the presence of bipedal nutritional edema.

Case fatality rate of SAM children with complications can be reduced by 90% through standard case management protocol like specialized treatment and prevention interventions at NRCs (Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres). Under national health programme in India, SAM cases are divided into two categories – those with medical complications such as diarrhea, fever, and pneumonia, needing facility based care and those without complications who can be managed in the community. Not more than 10% of SAM children require facility based care, after which follow up in the community is required to prevent relapse.