The nutritional status of a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: the Ndunakazi project.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the nutritional status of six month to 11 year old rural Black children and their mothers as a first phase in a nutrition intervention project.

DESIGN

Cross sectional study.

SETTING

A rural African community +/- 60 km northwest of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

SUBJECTS: A random sample of 127 mothers and 105 pre-school and 131 primary school children were selected from this community.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Anthropometric (height and weight), biochemical and dietary and socio-demographic information was collected.

RESULTS

Among the pre-schoolers anaemia was present in 23.8%, iron deficiency in 19.8%, while marginal vitamin A deficiency was observed in 44.9%. Urinary iodine levels indicated moderate iodine deficiency in 31.8% and severe iodine deficiency in 9.1%. In primary school children the prevalence of anaemia was 22%, while marginal vitamin A deficiency was observed in 50.8%. Moderate iodine deficiency was observed in 37.9% of primary school children while 13.6% presented with severe iodine deficiency. The prevalence of goitre in this group was 22.1%. Almost 22% of mothers were anaemic and 18.9% were iron deficient. Only 1.6% of mothers were marginally vitamin A deficient. An enlarged thyroid was observed in 26.7% of mothers of which 17.3% were palpable and 9.4% visible. Of mothers 43.4% were overweight while 33.8% were obese.

CONCLUSION

The rural community in KwaZulu-Natal, showed a high prevalence of anaemia, marginal vitamin A deficiency and iodine deficiency. The information gathered during this cross sectional study served as a basis to plan and implement an intervention study aimed at addressing the nutritional deficiencies.