Stunting is more than a height problem — it’s a sign that something deeper is wrong in society. Despite being an upper-middle-income country, South Africa ranks among 34 countries that make up 90% of the world's stunted children — among them are countries that have been set back by civil unrest and war.

In South Africa, nearly three in 10 children under the age of five are too short for their age, because of chronic malnutrition, often beginning in the womb, and made worse by repeated infections and a weakened immune system. Stunting affects how a child’s body and brain develop.

High rates of poverty and food insecurity are to blame, compounded by rising food prices and inadequate access to basic services — all of which affect stunting. This tells us that the problem is multi-layered, and no single intervention is going to drastically reduce our stunting rate. Instead, we need a national plan of action — a mission to tackle stunting.

In this podcast, we talk about why stunting is not an individual problem but a societal issue that we need to confront with a national mission-driven approach. We talk to Liezel Engelbrecht - a dietician and Nutrition lead for the Hold My Hand Accelerator, and Armaan Ujra, Innovation Director at DGMT supporting early childhood development.

Visit www.dgmt.co.za/the-mission-to-end-stunting to read more and access the takeaway instructions.

The Learning Lunch podcast features three types of episodes: Deep Dives; Nourish & Flourish; and Best Bites.

Each podcast/learning lunch session is structured as follows:
The Main Meal - A ±30-minute podcast
The Takeaways - Instructions for a ±30-minute group reflection based on what you listened to.

To learn more about the work that we do, go to www.dgmt.co.za