SA’s nutrition targets off course, WHO data shows
THE latest data regarding global nutrition targets set out by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that South Africa will only achieve two out of 10 nutrition targets by 2025.
Operation Hunger interim chief executive Sandy Bukula raised concern about the country’s lagging efforts to eradicate child hunger and nutritional inequality.
“Malnutrition, in all its forms, persists at an unacceptable high level globally. Despite some improvement in some indicators, progress is not sufficient to meet targets. The progress varies across countries and by form of malnutrition. The latest data shows that no country is ‘on course’ to meet all 10 global nutrition targets that are being tracked – only eight countries are progressing well enough to meet four targets by 2025.”
Bukula said nutritional equity continues to be a challenge in the country.
“The trend is clear – progress on malnutrition is not just too slow, it is also deeply unfair.”
According to the recently released South African Child Gauge 2020, one in four children under the age of five is stunted, a sign of chronic under-nutrition, and one in eight children under the age of five is overweight or obese.
“In South Africa, there is a clear link between infant and young children feeding practices and household income.
“With the pandemic having taken many families several steps back in the household income status, the security of our children’s stomachs must remain a matter we are collectively working to address.”
To address this, focus needs to be shifted to inequalities in food systems – from production to consumption – food education and accessibility, and affordability of healthy foods.
Bukula said good nutrition was an essential part of a person’s defence against Covid-19 too.
“Nutritional resilience is a key element of a society’s readiness to combat the threat.”