One in four SA children suffer from stunted growth: UCT Report

The Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT) says one in four children in South Africa experience stunt growth. This revelation is contained in the Institute’s annual report titled: The South African Child Gauge.

The instrument is used to measure, among other things, the progress of children and their development.

This year, the focus for the Institute was on Early Childhood Development (ECD).

“When we talk about ECD, most people think about ECD centres and easy learning programmes. But what the gauge says is that we need to be thinking much more comprehensively about child wellbeing. We need to be intervening early in the life and development of a child,” says Lori Lake, Communications and Education Specialist at the Children’s Institute.

She adds the support includes maternal and child health services, starting in the antenatal period of care and support for pregnant women.

“We know already that the infant brain develops in the uterus. So we need to get that foundation right and we need to continue that support up until the beginning of formal school.”

Lake explains that a lack of proper early childhood development has an impact on the brain of a child.

“So what we know is that the infant’s brain is prime to developing to its immediate environment and its relationship with caregivers. So a child who grows up in a home or a family where there is adequate nutrition, there is what we call a responsive caregiver who is attuned to the needs of the child and checks in to see if the child is hungry or does a child needs to be changed. A caregiver who picks up the child and comforts them. All those things are good for brain development. They build trust. They build confidence and they promote early learning and good healthy nutrition.”

Lake also touches on how poverty and a lack of proper nutrition affect the proper growth of children.

Two years ago, it was found that more than 70% of young children were living below the poverty line. And not every child gets to grow up in a space where proper nutrition is available.

“Families as you know are under strain. We see raised child poverty. In 2022, we were looking at 71% of young children living below the upper-bound poverty line and households with a monthly income of less than R1 558). That’s simply not enough. They don’t have enough to meet the basic costs of raising a child,” Lake explains.

One of the proposals in the Child Gauge report is for government to increase the social grant for children, to bring it in line with the food poverty line.

Meanwhile, in Langa on the Cape Flats, Sakhumzi Bhido at the Masibambisane Garden is helping to feed children.

“Here I have the soup kitchen. They (children) come after school. They are coming to dish up. Those smaller ones from eight to five years up until 10 years, we are busy with those children. We also support elderly people.”

Bhido says some support to cultivate and maintain the garden will come in handy.

“Most of the time I try by all means. We need the support from the government. We also need boreholes to pump water from the ground because we are struggling to get water.”

Working with other community members, the garden contributes to the development of children in the area. However, many of those who assist with ECD in the area, face additional challenges.

Athenkosi Nyovani, co-chairperson of the Come Together Non-Profit Organisation is one of those trying to make a difference.

“We want government to help us so that we can help these women who are running these programmes. The majority of our people in the townships have run ECDs for more than 20 years. They have run ECDs in shacks. Run ECDs in flats. Rune ECDs in houses. That’s not normal. So basic education needs to step in.”

While this year’s Child Gauge report focused on ECD, the Children’s Institute says the 2025 investigation will explore the intersections of violence against women and children.

The next report is expected to be published in August next year.