The Food for People volunteers are preparing nutritious food.
The number of underweight children in low-resource schools in Gauteng doubled between 2020 and 2022, with a University of Johannesburg (UJ) study warning that many children are not receiving enough nutritious food for healthy growth.
The study found that underweight children increased from 6% to 12% in the communities surveyed, meaning the number of affected children doubled from one in 16 to one in eight over three years.
The research examined data from 129 school learners aged between five and 10 years old in Gauteng schools with poor resources between 2020 and 2022, a period marked by COVID-19 regulations, economic shocks and income losses for many households.
South Africa’s children receive some protection from hunger through the Child Support Grant and school meal programmes, but the study found that many children in the country’s richest province remain vulnerable to poor nutrition.
