Cohort Profile: Mandela's children: The 1990 birth to twenty study in South Africa

Top Cited Papers
Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The late 1980s were a period of profound sociopolitical change in South Africa. It was clear that the Apartheid state was crumbling and, amongst acts of civil disobedience which characterized ‘the struggle’, Black Africans† began to disregard restrictive legislation that constrained where they lived and worked. Very rapid unplanned urbanization began, and shanty towns mushroomed around formerly White cities and towns. It was anticipated that this rapid urbanization, with urban growth estimated at the time to be 3.5% per year1,,2 would have profound effects on children's health and development. While improved access to health care, education and employment in urban areas could decrease preventable childhood morbidity and mortality, the inability of government to establish and maintain services to meet the needs of the growing urban population could exacerbate existing infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Non-infectious conditions related to the interaction of lifestyle, urban stressors and socio-cultural changes—for example, childhood injuries, substance use and obesity—were predicted to increase.