Nutritional Health of Young Children in South Africa over the First 16 Years of Democracy (Report‪)‬

Obstacles to the realisation of the right to food are usually linked to discrimination and poverty. The latter is perhaps best reflected in chronic hunger and undernutrition. (1) Malnutrition in early life is associated with an increased risk of degenerative diseases later in life and has a negative impact on learning capacity and physical development, with consequences for adult productivity and economic development. It is therefore an important cause of ongoing poverty. In the post-apartheid era since 1994, a major challenge has been to monitor the nutritional status of all South Africans, since data reported during the apartheid years often excluded the majority of the population, namely mainly black South Africans as well as coloureds and those of Asian/Indian descent. Undernutrition is a major health problem in South Africa, (2) primarily affecting young children who live in rural areas of the country and whose parents have a low educational status, low or no income, and live under poor environmental conditions. An upliftment of the prevailing socio-economic conditions, together with proper implementation of appropriate policies and adequately resourced intervention programmes, are crucial in securing sustained improvement in both general and nutrition-related health among vulnerable groups in all of South Africa.