Micronutrient

Despite some progress in improving nutrition among the world's poor, improvements have failed to keep pace with the overall climate of global economic growth, according to a new United Nations report.

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.

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.