In Nicaragua is improving cancer care by treating food and nutrition as an essential part of medical treatment.

At the Hospital Infantil Manuel de Jesús Rivera “La Mascota” in Managua, many children with cancer suffer from malnutrition, which worsens treatment outcomes and survival. Because commercial nutritional products are expensive and limited, the hospital developed a practical, local solution.

The hospital created an integrated “Food as Medicine” system where its nutrition department works closely with the kitchen to prepare specialized therapeutic diets and homemade medical formulas using affordable local ingredients (like milk, eggs, vegetables, grains, and oils). These meals and formulas are tailored to each child’s medical needs and are prepared under nutritionist supervision.

A major turning point came in 2018, when a full-time nutritionist was assigned to the pediatric oncology unit. This allowed nutrition care to be provided consistently from diagnosis through treatment, rather than only when children became severely malnourished.

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