1026 IQ, nutrition and burden of infectious disease

As is the case in other developing countries, South Africa has a National School Nutrition Programme. Objectives of the latter are to foster better education by enhancing active learning capacity, alleviate hunger, provide an incentive to attend school and address certain micronutrient deficiencies. Within eligible schools the aim is to feed grades R to 7 (i.e. primary levels only) for 156 of 196 school days per year. Urban and rural schools with learners from poor families are eligible. Research has shown that paradoxically 90% of rural eligible children were receiving food vs 56% of urban. Common problems include inability to reliably provide fully or partially from the 22 approved meal plans, theft of food from schools or before reaching the schools, variable school hours that don’t coincide with deliveries, schools being inaccessible, and lack of potable water for mixing of programme drinks. Outcomes and costs have been assessed in other African countries, ranging from $28 to $63 per child per year (weighted mean $40), translating to $10 per student per extra day of attendance and between $40 and $252 per kg of weight gained. Costs for cognitive outcome were similarly variable. A recent study from the US has analysed multiple national IQ levels and related them to a number of variables including nutritional stress, seasonal temperatures, distance from Africa, gross domestic product and several measures of education. Their results indicate that the worldwide distribution of cognitive ability is significantly determined by the intensity of infectious disease, and the authors explain the relationship by arguing that the pathophysiological, nutritional and metabolic demands of countering infection deprive the brain (particularly the developing brain) of energy. This hypothesis emphasizes the relative futility of national health and development programmes that are narrowly focused, as in providing food supplementation while not simultaneously addressing parasitic and other infections that affect the target community.

Read more:
Proc R Soc B 2010; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0973
Food Nutr Bull 2009; 30: 171-82
Education Policy: School feeding scheme http://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/docs/government/feeding.html