Every year, National Nutrition Week (9–15 October) makes South Africans aware of the importance good nutrition plays in our health, productivity, and quality of life from childhood to old age, and to encourage healthier eating habits as a nation.
For 2025, the theme is “Food for Health, Health for All”. This theme highlights an important fact: access to nutritious, safe, and affordable food is a basic human right. Good nutrition leads to a healthier community and a more productive nation.
The triple burden of malnutrition in South Africa
South Africa has a nutritional issue known as the “triple burden of malnutrition.” This means the country is dealing with three major issues at the same time: undernutrition (such as stunting and wasting), micronutrient deficiencies caused by a lack of vital vitamins and minerals, and an increase in overweight and obesity.
Many households rely on cheap, high-starch, ultra-processed foods because healthy food is either too expensive or difficult to access. This creates a dangerous cycle of low energy, weakened immunity, chronic illnesses, and reduced productivity.
Nutrition challenges in the mining and industry sector
Poor nutrition affects everyone, but in the mining and industrial sectors, the risks are even higher. Workers do physically challenging, high-risk tasks, often on long shifts and irregular schedules. What they eat directly impacts their safety, alertness, and performance.
Most workers don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables because healthier meals aren’t always available. Instead, they rely mostly on cheap, starchy staple foods, which leads to fatigue and nutrient deficiencies.
Because ultra-processed convenience foods are quick and accessible, they are frequently consumed. After a short energy spike provided by these sugary snacks and drinks, you’re inevitably met with an energy crash that impacts focus and performance.
Even when workers want to make healthier choices, affordability and availability often don’t allow them to. Healthier options are often more expensive or simply not available on-site, which leaves workers with limited access to the food (and more importantly, nutrition) they need to stay energised and healthy during their challenging shifts.
All of these issues increase the risk of fatigue, more accidents, absenteeism, chronic illness, and long-term health costs for both workers and employers.
How Back to Basics Nutrition makes a difference
At Back to Basics, we understand the difficulties of the mining and industrial environment. That’s why our range of dietician-developed supplementary, meal-replacement and sustained-energy drinks, and high-protein bars is made specifically for shift workers and high-performance teams.
We can help because our products are developed by dieticians to meet real energy and nutrient needs, ensuring that workers receive the right balance of nutrients to support performance. Unlike sugar-based alternatives that cause quick energy boosts and crashes, our products deliver sustained energy for over three to four hours, helping employees stay safe and focused.
With over 20 years of fatigue management research behind our products, we understand how workplace fatigue develops, and more importantly, how to prevent it.
Our products help companies because when workers feel better, companies perform better, which is why nutrition is not just a wellness benefit, but a strategic advantage. Interested in finding out more? Have a look at our previous blogs, then shop our range of dietitian-approved nutritional supplements to get you through your day!