Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Stunting

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The pace of an increase in South Africa’s consumer food prices continues to slow. (Waldo Swiegers/Getty Images)
FOOD

People are starving in South Africa, the land of plenty

South Africa is food secure but people cannot afford nutritious food – or even food every day

  • Ozayr Patel
4 min read
About one in three children in South Africa is brought up by a grandparent.. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
CHILDREN

Zero-stunting for South Africa’s children is the key to escaping the inequality trap

Concerted action towards zero-stunting is one of the sturdiest and enduring ladders out of the inequality trap.

  • David Harrison
12 min read
More than a quarter of children under five in South Africa are affected by stunting
COVID 19

Community health workers crucial for a future free of stunting

More than a quarter of children under five in South Africa are affected by stunting

  • Ofentse Mboweni
4 min read
An eight-month-old child receives high nutrition foods at Tawkal 2 Dinsoor camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Baidoa, Somalia, on February 14, 2022. Insufficient rainfall since late 2020 has come as a fatal blow to populations already suffering from a locust invasion between 2019 and 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic. For several weeks, humanitarian organizations have multiplied alerts on the situation in the Horn of Africa, which raises fears of a tragedy similar to that of 2011, the last famine that killed 260,000 people in Somalia. – Desperate, hungry and thirsty, more and more people are flocking to Baidoa from rural areas of southern Somalia, one of the regions hardest hit by the drought that is engulfing the Horn of Africa. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
CHILD SUPPORT GRANT

Investing in nutrition is a crucial step in improving children’s rights

Extending the child support grant into pregnancy will play a vital role in combating stunting and improving the prospects of children in South Africa

  • Ofentse Mboweni
3 min read
The theme for World Health Day is ‘healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’ and aims to encourage governments to take actions to reduce mothers’ deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.
BUDGET

The case for a maternal support grant

Financial support for pregnant mothers can help avoid the lifelong consequences of stunting, Minister Godongwana

  • Ofentse Mboweni
2 min read
Young women struggling with unplanned pregnancies — often victims of sexual violence and toxic masculinity — need help. (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)
ABUSE

Counting the costs of childbirth in young girls

Among other psychosocial concerns, pre-teen and teenage births contribute to poor mother and child nutrition results

  • Marcia Zali
5 min read
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – OCTOBER 26: Animal Rebellion protestors unveil a banner at the Home Office building after they have scaled DEFRA on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2021, in central London, demanding government support for a plant-based food system ahead of COP26 which is to be held in six days. The protestors have said that they will take action until the government defunds meat and subsidises a plant-based transition. (Photo by Vudi Xhymshiti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
ALAN DANGOUR

Health professionals call for new systems to reduce food insecurity

Health professionals have called on leaders at COP26 to prioritise changing food systems to reduce their effect on the climate, as well as to prevent deaths

  • Marcia Zali
2 min read
More than a quarter of children under five in South Africa are affected by stunting
BREASTFEEDING

Eradicating childhood stunting should be a priority in SA

Poor basic service delivery is linked to children’s poor nutrition

  • Anna-Marie Müller
3 min read
Access to nutritious food is linked to improvements in human productivity (David Harrison)
CHILD SUPPORT GRANT

South African politicians must urgently address childhood stunting

Chronic malnutrition is ruining the future for thousands of children

  • Ofentse Mboweni
4 min read
South Africa may have attained political emancipation but economically the chains largely remain. (File photo)
CHILDREN

Poor nutrition is a weak foundation for a nation with big dreams

Every child deserves the chance to grow up well-nourished and reach their full potential

  • Anna-Marie Müller
3 min read
Making ends meet: Ncebakazi Ngozana has to feed a family of five on a shoestring budget of child grants. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
2013 FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY POLICY

Inside the life of South Africans who cannot afford a nutritious meal for children

The 2020 Child Gauge is calling for a clear commitment from the government to end the “slow violence of malnutrition” faced by children

  • Marcia Zali
9 min read
Relieved: Nomthandazo Makhubela is happy that all grades are now back at school. (Paul Botes/M&G)
CHILD HUNGER

Open schools mean full tummies as feeding schemes resume

About four in five learners in the country’s poorest schools rely on the one meal they receive at school, but they weren’t able to get it for more than four months, during which…

  • Pontsho Pilane
6 min read
COVID 19

Big retailers need to step up to the plate

To stave off a multi-generational malnutrition crisis, the food industry must work with government to provide highly nutritious foods at cost during the pandemic

  • Kopano Matlwa Mabaso
5 min read