The Efficacy of South Africa’s National School Nutrition Program in the King Cetshwayo District, Kwazulu-Natal.

KwaZulu-Natal has recorded the highest number of malnourished children in South Africa. This qualitative study seeks to determine the prevalence of malnutrition, child hunger and child neglect within the King Cetshwayo District in KwaZulu-Natal. To combat this national and provincial challenge, South Africa’s National School Nutrition Program (NSNP), which is administered by the Department of Basic Education, targets nutrition in children by providing meals for children at impoverished schools. The aim of the National School Nutrition Program is to provide nutritious meals for school-going children, but media reports indicate that this program has been ineffective in achieving this goal. Therefore, this qualitative study investigates the efficiceny and effectiveness of these programs at 3 selected schools in the King Cetshwayo District in KwaZulu-Natal. Data has been retrieved from fifteen teachers employed within this school, 20 parents that live within this area and 50 children over the course of 2024. Particular focus is paid to quality-of-service delivery by the selected meal suppliers and the nutritional content, quality and freshness of the meals prepared for the children. The study aims to accurately identify the ills in the implementation of this program, so that there can be appropriate corrective measures applied. The relevance of this research collectively contributes towards the curbing of the prevalence of malnourished children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and aims to identify and understand the various ways in which children experience neglect and malnutrition.