A 229-child prospective cohort study in Venezuela found that a simplified acute malnutrition protocol achieved superior recovery rates compared to WHO standard guidelines (70.1% vs 59.4%) while reducing treatment costs by 15% ($133 vs $157 per recovered child). The simplified approach uses just one treatment product with fixed dosing—2 sachets daily for severe cases, 1 for moderate cases—regardless of child weight, contrasting with WHO's weight-based calculations. Both protocols showed similar anthropometric improvements over 16 weeks of monitoring. This finding carries significant implications for global malnutrition treatment, particularly in resource-constrained settings where simplified protocols could expand treatment access. The streamlined approach potentially reduces training complexity for healthcare workers and supply chain demands while maintaining clinical effectiveness. However, both protocols showed concerning default rates exceeding 18%, highlighting persistent challenges in treatment adherence. The study's Venezuelan context, during ongoing humanitarian crisis, provides valuable real-world evidence but may limit generalizability to other settings. As this is a preprint awaiting peer review, these promising cost-effectiveness findings require validation through independent evaluation before informing widespread policy changes in malnutrition treatment protocols.