There are two extremes of malnutrition at play among SA's youth — both under nutrition and over nutrition PICTURE: SHUTTERSTOCKThere is a bizarre paradox at work in South Africa: children are either going hungry or are eating too much of the wrong foods. This means that over and under nutrition co-exist. Both phenomena are extremely harmful for children’s physical and mental development and long term health.The two “extremes” both lead to malnutrition. And while the impact is often not immediately apparent, over time it can have a major impact on whether or not they develop chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol, to name a few.Malnutrition is a lack of proper nutrition. It is caused by either not having enough to eat or not eating enough of the right food, or being unable to use the food that you eat. The body battles to grow and resist disease.Under nutritionFor children growing up in the country’s informal rural areas, under nutrition is the ever prese...
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