Malnutrition stalks South Africa’s preschoolers, harming their chance of success even before schooling begins

More than half of 4-5 year olds (55%) are unable to do the learning tasks expected of children their age, with 28% of children falling far behind the expected standard.

This is according to a survey of 5,000 children attending early learning programmes around the country.

One in four showed signs of long-term malnutrition, which presents as stunted physical growth.

“Stunted children on average perform worse at school than their non-stunted counterparts ... and are vulnerable to being trapped in intergenerational cycles of poverty,” according to the Thrive by Five Index released on Friday.

Children were assessed in three areas known to be predictive of a child’s performance in school: early learning, physical growth and social emotional functioning.

The survey of preschool child development was initiated by FNB and Innovation Edge, in collaboration with the department of basic education, supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and ECD Measure.

Learning tasks assessed fall into five groups: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, early literacy, early mathematics and executive functioning, which is the child’s ability to solve problems and pay attention.

The index states that 65% of children are failing to thrive. “These children are not meeting the expected early learning and/or physical growth standards for their age and will start grade R at a considerable disadvantage, with possible long-term implications for their education.”

On social emotional functioning, 27.5% of children did not meet the standard for age-appropriate social relations with peers and adults, while 33.4% were found to not be emotionally ready for school.

While there is considerable variation in performance within income groups, on average, children from poorer households were found to be falling behind their better-off peers as a result of the challenges they face in their earliest years.

“Children thrive by age five when, from birth, they experience a nurturing and safe environment and they have access to quality healthcare and nutrition as well as opportunities for learning” — both in the home and at crèches, the report stated.

“The Thrive by Five Index has thrown into focus the importance of the work of early childhood development in shaping the nation’s future leaders. The index will enable the DBE to track progress in providing integrated services that lead to improved child outcomes over the next 10 years,” said basic education minister Angie Motshekga.

FNB CEO Jacques Celliers, who pledged the company would continue to invest in the early childhood development ecosystem, said: “The value of the index is that it allows us as a collective to provide optimal support to our children as they progress from grassroots to greatness.

“Thrive by Five's actionable insights will influence targeted interventions that will result in quantitative and qualitative outcomes. As a result, it is incumbent on all stakeholders to ensure measurable progress in the coming years.”

Sonja Giese, former executive director of Innovation Edge and project lead for the Thrive by Five Index, said: “SA will not realise its development goals of eliminating poverty and reducing inequality without addressing the challenges young children face in their earliest years. We have to tackle the injustice of unequal opportunities in early childhood.”

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