GROWTH MONITORING - IS IT A TASK WORTH DOING IN SOUTH-AFRICA

Childhood undernutrition is a serious public health problem in South A frica. Growth monitoring (GM) is a central tool in attempts to prevent and detect undernutrition. Despite its widespread adoption by interna tional and national agencies, there has been very little evidence whic h shows that it has made an impact in reducing undernutrition. An impo rtant problem has been the conceptual confusion as to the exact role o f GM. This article reviews the international evidence for the effectiv eness of GM when used in various roles and proposes some of the factor s necessary for GM to be successful in South Africa.