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South Africa is a country in nutrition and economic transition. Undernutrition, particularly stunting and micronutrient deficiencies, coexist with overweight and obesity, which have been on the rise over the past few decades. The dual nature of malnutrition in South Africa comes with a complex series of epidemiological and health care challenges. Overweight and obesity are associated with chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, amongst others. In the context of food insecurity and the HIV pandemic which has been estimated to affect 2.4 % of children aged between 0 and 14 years, undernutrition persists, particularly among young children. Both forms of malnutrition are driven by factors which are biological, behavioural, societal and structural.
The CDIA has welcomed the announcement by Discovery Fund to award the CDIA R2 million for a further two years, enabling the organisation to continue its programme of research in the health services - where help is most needed.
November 2014
GRAND South is a network of 11 centres in Asia, Africa and Latin America working in research, building capacity and developing policy to reduce the burden of NCD. This network of centres was created from a collaborative initiative, ‘Combating Chronic Disease in Developing Countries – Partners in Progress’, between National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHBLI) and United Health Group in 2009. CDIA is a member of this network. You are invited to join the GRAND South community and follow the group on Facebook and Twitter.