Nutrition

An evaluation report of the Primary School Nutrition Programme (PSNP) will he handed to the Ministry of Health in a press conference to be held at the Department of Health, Room 1127, 120 Plein Str, Cape Town, at 13h00, Tuesday 9 September 1997. The PSNP was introduced as one of the Presidential Lead Projects of the Reconstruction and Development Programme in 1994. The evaluation was based on a national collaborative effort by a number of research institutions using a multi-disciplinary framework.

The purpose of this guide is to provide health district nutrition workers with the steps and information necessary to complete a participatory NSA within the framework of the district health system. It will go through a framework and give examples of where and how information can be collected. This guide is meant for health district PHC workers who are motivated to implement an integrated nutrition programme.

This manual is targeted at personnel who are working at a district level and could play a role in combating malnutrition.

This Kwik-Swiz reports on the process and programme that was undertaken by a district nutrition team, including the paediatric staff in a very under-resourced rural health district to implement one component of the INP, the WHO 10 Steps for improved care of severely malnourished children.

Undernutrition underlies more than one in three childhood deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa one in four children are stunted and one in three have Vitamin A deficiency. Growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) has the potential to prevent much undernutrition and to integrate the care of a child. It is central to the Governments Integrated Nutrition Programme (INP), and other childhood programmes such as the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI). At a community level, GMP can also be a powerful tool for increasing community awareness of undernutrition and mobilising their action.

Like health, good nutrition is the outcome of many and multiple factors. Nutrition is affected by the policies and activities of numerous sectors, including agriculture, finance, health, education, water and environmental affairs and welfare. That is why problems of poor nutrition in South African communities need to be addressed in a comprehensive and integrated manner, and a previous editorial has argued for leadership from the Health Ministry in developing a common national strategy for good nutrition in South Africa.

Looks at the management of diarrhoea.