Implementing an Integrated Nutrition Programme - Health Systems ...

Preschool children
Three studies have documented the anthropometry of preschool children in the province,
namely the 1994 Vitamin A (SAVCG) study 1 , the SALDRU/World Bank study 2 and a
national survey undertaken by the Department of Health 3 in 1994 which measured the
anthropometry of children on school entrance.
Vitamin A (SAVCG) study
Nationally 10.6% of children were found to be underweight-for-age. Only 2.5% of children
were underweight for their height (wasted). This suggests that acute malnutrition is not a
major problem. Levels of stunting were however found to be extremely high (27%)
suggesting that chronic malnutrition is a major problem.
Table 3: Percentages of children who were UWFA or stunted (SAVCG study)
Underweight-for-age Stunted
Northern Cape 15.6 22.8
Free State 13.6 28.7
North West 13.2 24.7
Northern Province 12.6 34.2
Eastern Cape 11.4 28.8
Mpumalanga 7.3 20.4
Western Cape 7.0 11.6
Gauteng 5.6 11.5
Kwazulu/Natal 4.2 15.6
National average 10.6 27.0
The Northern Cape had the highest rate of underweight-for-age of all provinces in the
country (15.6%). Four provinces, the Northern Province, Eastern Cape, Free State and
North West had figures which revealed higher levels of stunting than the Northern Cape
(22,8%) which had levels below the national average.
The province therefore had a similar pattern of high stunting and low wasting which is found
in most of South Africa, although the difference between the number of children who were
underweight-for-age and stunted was much smaller.
The figures for children who were severely malnourished i.e. -3 Z-scores or more are shown
in Table 4. There were fewer children who were severely malnourished in the Northern
Cape than the national average.
Table 4: Percentage of children with severe malnutrition (SAVCG study)
-2 Z score -3 Z score
Measurement N.Cape National N.Cape National
Weight for age 15.6 10.6 1.1 1.8
Weight for height 2.5 2.8 0.1 2.8
Height for age 22.8 27.0 5.9 8.4
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