Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will on Monday, 15 March deliver a talk on the relationship between nutrition and diseases at the launch of the Centre for the Study of Social and Environmental Determinants of Nutrition in Cape Town.
The launch of the centre by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) comes at a time when the country is confronted with diseases caused by poverty and malnutrition on the one hand and those such as obesity caused by over-nutrition on the other.
Nutrition forms a critical component of the Department of Health’s strategy in preventing diseases such as hypertension and diabetes which have seen a significant increase over the past few years and placing a huge burden on the country’s public health system.
Inadequate feeding in the first two years of life has a permanent consequence in the child’s development. Evidence has shown that children who are fed on breast milk only for six months (exclusive breastfeeding) have a better chance of survival. The fact that in South Africa solid foods are introduced at an early age and only seven percent of children are breastfed exclusively up to six months is of great concern to the Department of Health.
Members of the media are invited to the launch of the centre scheduled to take place as follows:
Date: 15 March 2010
Venue: Town House Hotel (60 Corporation Street) Cape Town
Time: 09h00
For more information please contact:
Fidel Hadebe
Tel: 012 312 0663
Cell: 079 517 3333
Issued by: Department of Health
12 March 2010
Source: Department of Health (http://www.doh.gov.za/)
