Postdoctoral Support

Dr Roisin Drysdale

Successful South African Medical Research Council Self-Initiated Research (SIR) Grant to continue her CoE-HUMAN postdoctoral research work

Project title: Child Growth and Development during a Global Pandemic: Assessing the indirect effects of SARS-CoV-2 on young children and their mothers living in Soweto, South Africa

Evidence of the impact of pandemics and national responses to them on early child development and growth is limited, particularly in the first 1,000 days of life, when the foundations for health, growth and neurodevelopment are established. The available literature, however, suggests that children conceived or in-utero during an epidemic or natural disaster are more likely to experience life-long negative consequences such as reduced education attainment and higher risk of non-communicable diseases and mental health problems. The ‘Child Growth and Development during a Global Pandemic’ study follows a cohort of infants who were conceived and born during the first year of the South African COVID-19 national lockdown to assess whether the pandemic has negatively affected their growth, development, and well-being.

The infants, who turn two years of age at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023, spent much of their first 1,000 days living under lockdown conditions. They have been followed-up from birth at 6-month intervals, which will continue until they turn three years of age. The study will measure their growth, cognitive and socio-emotional development, and motor skills using validated tools.

In addition, the study will record their feeding practices, immunisation status, sickness and morbidity and their mother’s mental health and well-being.

Preliminary results suggest that women found being pregnant during the lockdown difficult, mainly due to stress and fear of attending the hospital or clinic. Whilst 98% of the participants advised they attended antenatal care throughout their pregnancy, 10% did not have an ultrasound indicating that they were not attending the recommended number of antenatal health visits. In addition, 10% of the infants, who were born full-term (≥ 37 weeks gestation) with no complications, were born of low birth weight (< 2.5kg). They were also between two and three times more likely to be born of low birth weight compared to those born before the pandemic.

Being born low birth weight can have a significant impact on an individual throughout their life, including but not limited to, increased risk of dying in the first year of life, higher rates of childhood illnesses, poor cognitive development, and poor growth. Through this study, Dr Drysdale hopes to better understand how the pandemic and lockdown has affected child development and growth and determine whether policies and interventions that mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 and promote early learning and improved growth are needed.

CoE-HUMAN Postdoctoral fellow, Dr Siphiwe Dlamini

The study, entitled Should fast food nutritional labelling be mandatory in South Africa, supported by CoE-HUMAN, was conducted at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Food labels are considered a crucial component of strategies tackling unhealthy diets and obesity. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of food labelling for increasing the selection of healthier products and in reducing calorie intake. In addition, this study compared the relative effectiveness of traffic light schemes, Guideline Daily Amount and other food labelling schemes. A comprehensive set of databases were searched to identify randomised studies. Studies reporting homogeneous outcomes were pooled and analysed through meta-analyses and publication bias was evaluated with a funnel plot.

The results indicated that food labelling would increase the amount of people selecting a healthier food product by about 17.95% (confidence interval: +11.24% to +24.66%) and decrease calorie intake/ choice by about 3.59% (confidence interval: −8.90% to +1.72%), though results were not statistically significant. Traffic light schemes were marginally more effective in increasing the selection of healthier options than other food labels or Guideline Daily Amounts. Findings of this study suggest that nutrition labelling may be an effective approach to empowering consumers in choosing healthier products. Interpretive labels, such as traffic light labels, may be most effective. The study also recommended that consumers limit their fast-food intake and avoid eating meal combinations and that the South African Government’s consider regulations that mandate nutritional labelling of fast foods, to assist consumers in making informed dietary choices to curb the rise of non-communicable diseases.

Further publicity around the piece:

Online Media:

Women in Science

• https://www.womeninscience.africa/few-restaurants-insa-provide-nutritional-facts-on-their-products-the-studyreveals/

South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition

• https://www.tandfonline.com

• Full article: Should fast-food nutritional labelling in South Africa be mandatory? (tandfonline.com)

The Conversation

• https://www.theconversation.com/africa

• Food labelling – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation – page 1

Wits Research News

• https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/researchnews/2022/2022-01/reading-the-nutritional-signs-in-yourburger-chips-and-soda-combo.html

• 2022-01 – Reading the nutritional signs in your burger, chips and soda combo – Wits University

Social Media:

Facebook University of the Witwatersrand, reached 18,997

Twitter University of the Witwatersrand, 795 interactions

LinkedIn Wits reached 6,541