Speaking at launch of the Human Sciences Research Council’€™s (HSRC) Centre for the Study of the Social and Environmental Determinants of Nutrition, Labadarios shared statistic which showed that globally 112-million children were underweight and that under-nutrition was the underlying cause of one-third of all child deaths.

Labadarios, who will head up the Centre, also quoted statistics which showed that South Africa’€™s overweight and obesity statistics were on par with the United States of America. However, what made South Africa unique were the similarly high levels of stunting which pointed towards the massive inequality in the country.

However, he warned that addressing food alone was not an effective intervention, but addressing the underlying social and environmental factors was critical. It is hoped that the Centre would identify the underlying causes of under-nutrition or the chronic lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, and in turn develop approaches to better understand the mechanisms that link social factors to nutrition.

Speaking at the launch in Cape Town yesterday (MONDAY)health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said he was looking forward to the Centre assisting in providing research which could assist government in crafting more focused and custom designed policy interventions.

Motsoaledi said research showed that obesity was highest in black women and white men.

He said understanding the social and environmental determinants of nutrition had become even more crucial because that was where government could intervene to change behavior in terms of food purchase and preparation.

He said that in order to understand the co-existence of over- and under-nutrition in food secure households, the country needed a Road Map for Nutrition and Food security. He said he had asked the HSRC to co-ordinate this process.