National Nutrition week: Nutrition and early childhood development

9 to 16 October was National Nutrition Week. Nutrition is an important component of children's health and is essential for their cognitive development. The South African Child Gauge (2020) estimates that about 27% or 1 in 4 young children are malnourished and less than the average height for their age due to a lack of access to nutritious foods in early childhood.

Read more about nutrition and early childhood development and about how The Unlimited Child (TUC) is delivering nutritional support across communities participating in the Anglo American South Africa (AASA) Education Programme. 

Access the full article here. 

Some additional resources for Nutritional Support

• National Nutrition Awareness week 2021 resources: Theme 'Eat more vegetables and fruit every day
• The World Health Organization's Nurturing Care Handbook for adequate nutritional support in younger children

• The DoH has enacted the

  Nutrition Guidelines for Early Childhood Development Centres (2016)

  to provide a safe and healthy food environment for children under five years.

• The  Department of Social Development

  provides nutritional support to registered ECD sites through the ECD subsidy

• The Department of Basic Education runs the

  National School Nutrition Programme