ReviewCurrent developments in nutrition2025
Social Protection Programs and Their Support for Promoting Access to Nutrient-Dense Foods for Vulnerable Communities in South Africa.
Review in Current developments in nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Methodologies of Care: A Multimodal, Participatory Research Approach with Vulnerable Families Among South African Communities.Methods and protocols · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic disparities and nutritional aging: how food insecurity and financial hardship accelerate health decline in older adults.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Social protection programs (SPPs) have been established to tackle challenges from economic downturns, conflicts, and the impacts of global warming, with women and children being particularly vulnerable during these times. Programs like Child Support Grants (CSG), the Old People's Grant (OPG), the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), Food Parcels, Food Fortification Programmes (FFP), and Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) show promise in alleviating food insecurity and improving nutritional health. This review assessed key SPPs in South Africa, focusing on their support of access to nutrient-dense food provision for vulnerable communities. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medline to evaluate the success of these programs. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Quality Criteria Checklist was employed to systematically evaluate and assess the quality of each study. The narrative review assessed 6 key SPPs offered by the government, with 4 failing to provide access to nutrient-dense foods, especially for women and children. Only 2 programs meet this nutritional objective. The NSA and the FFP initiatives achieved remarkable outcomes, significantly supporting accessibility to these vital food resources. In contrast, the remaining 4 programs, CSG, OPG, NSNP, and FFP, all demonstrated only limited support mainly due to low cash transfer values, inconsistent implementation, household demographic imbalances, and high living costs. This suggests that SPP policy currently lacks a comprehensive focus on nutritional sensitivity, which may not adequately meet the diverse dietary needs and health outcomes of the population it serves. This inadequate support contributes to a cycle of malnutrition, posing significant public health challenges within vulnerable communities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.