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The sight of severely malnourished children too weak to even sit is fortunately a rare one in South Africa. For some, this is a sign that malnutrition is not an important health problem in South Africa. However this could not be further from the truth.
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Even mild to moderate undernutrition significantly increases the chances of death it is probable that more than a third of infant deaths in South Africa have undernutrition as the main underlying cause. Even when it doesnt lead to death, undernutrition has an enormous impact on growth, intellectual development and resistance to illness. It has been estimated that if we managed to eliminate deficiencies in iron, iodine and vitamin A, it would lead to a population-wide increase in IQ by 10-15 IQ points, reduce maternal deaths by one-third, decrease infant and childhood mortality by more than a third and increase strength and work capacity by almost half. And this is half the story.
There is increasing evidence that both under- and over-nutrition are very important in the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. That is why malnutrition is sometimes referred to as the silent emergency. Even mild to moderate undernutrition significantly increases the chances of death it is probable that more than a third of infant deaths in South Africa have undernutrition as the main underlying cause. Even when it doesnt lead to death, undernutrition has an enormous impact on growth, intellectual development and resistance to illness. It has been estimated that if we managed to eliminate deficiencies in iron, iodine and vitamin A, it would lead to a population-wide increase in IQ by 10-15 IQ points, reduce maternal deaths by one-third, decrease infant and childhood mortality by more than a third and increase strength and work capacity by almost half. And this is half the story. There is increasing evidence that both under- and over-nutrition are very important in the development of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. That is why malnutrition is sometimes referred to as the silent emergency.
In South Africa we are fortunate to have plenty of resources with which to deal with malnutrition. The government has dedicated significant funds, as witnessed by the funding of the Primary School Nutrition Programme, and has developed a sophisticated Integrated Nutrition Programme. Every year nearly a hundred dieticians graduate from tertiary institutions around the country and every clinic in the country is equipped with a weighing scale. South Africa also grows enough food to export large amounts to other countries.
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