Maye Musk, the mother of South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk, has established a scholarship to support students pursuing Master’s degree studies in nutrition and dietetics at the University of the Free State (UFS). The initiative, aimed at addressing the critical issue of malnutrition, will partly fund two full-time master’s students researching the link between the effect of mother’s nutrition on the birth outcomes and growth of their newborn children. Prof. Corinna Walsh from UFS explained that Musk’s involvement stems from her understanding of the impact of nutrition on health and her efforts in promoting healthy eating. As an alumnus of UFS, Maye Musk’s journey in dietetics began with a hospital diploma, progressed through a bursary-funded master’s degree, and culminated in an honorary doctorate awarded in 2023. The $15,000 scholarship, allocated as $7,500 per student per year, supports these students’ full-time study. Prof Walsh highlighted that malnutrition in South Africa leads to high rates of stunting, affecting up to one in every three children—a condition linked to an increased risk of obesity later in life.
Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.
Watch here
Listen here
Highlights from the interview
In an interview with Professor Corinna Walsh from the University of the Free State (UFS), Linda van Tilburg discussed Maye Musk’s recent initiative to support master’s students in nutrition and dietetics. Professor Walsh explained that Musk, who completed her diploma and Master’s degree in Dietetics at UFS, has established a scholarship to help expand maternal and child nutrition research. This scholarship will fund two full-time master’s students annually, allowing them to work on significant projects, such as assessing newborn body composition at Universitas Hospital.
Musk’s involvement with UFS is rooted in her positive experiences and dedication to advancing nutrition science. Her scholarship aims to address critical public health issues in South Africa, including high rates of malnutrition, which encompass both undernutrition and obesity. Walsh highlighted that Musk’s commitment to healthy nutrition and her global advocacy against misinformation in the field were key factors in her receiving an honorary doctorate from UFS.
The interview also touched on South Africa’s nutritional challenges and the impact of poor maternal nutrition on child health. Walsh emphasised the importance of breaking the cycle of malnutrition through early intervention, reflecting Musk’s ongoing dedication to improving public health through practical, science-based approaches.
Edited transcript of the interview
Linda van Tilburg (00:04.718)
Maye Musk has founded a scholarship to support students pursuing master’s studies in nutrition and dietetics at the University of the Free State. Professor Corinna Walsh from the UFS is joining us to discuss this initiative.
Linda van Tilburg (00:27.412)
How did Mrs. Musk become associated with the University of the Free State?
Corinna Walsh (00:34.368)
Many years ago, Maye completed her diploma in hospital dietetics at Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein. When she had finished that, the university offered her a bursary to continue with her Master of Science in Dietetics at the University of the Free State and she graduated in 1987.
Linda van Tilburg (01:17.335)
Well, I always associate her with her son, Elon Musk, but she’s a formidable woman in her own right.
Corinna Walsh (01:24.908)
Definitely, yes, and her commitment to promoting the disciplines of Nutrition and Dietetics on the global stage is the reason why we nominated her for an honorary doctorate in terms of engaged scholarship, which was conferred on her last year in April. The industry that she works in is a very unforgiving industry renowned for fostering poor body image and eating disorders. Maye has made an unprecedented contribution to promoting healthy nutrition and advocating sound nutrition principles based on sound science. We find that commendable in our field, where nutrition misinformation abounds.
Linda van Tilburg (02:38.654)
So, what inspired her to establish the scholarship for nutrition and dietetics?
Corinna Walsh (02:45.752)
The Maye Musk scholarship will help us to expand on the work that we are doing in the field of maternal and child nutrition in our department and will contribute to supporting deserving Master’s students in nutrition or dietetics. We offer two postgraduate programs, one in dietetics and one in nutrition. So, the bursaries will specifically be allocated to two full-time master’s students. We’ve got a large number of postgraduate master’s and PhD students in our department, but most of them continue their studies on a part-time basis because they are employed. So, the scholarship makes it possible for us to support two students per year in a full-time capacity. The project that the students will be involved in includes an assessment of the body composition of newborn babies. Our department is privileged to have expensive equipment that uses the PEAPOD infant body composition analyser to measure infant body composition. In collaboration with co-researchers in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Paediatrics and Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Radiography, etc., the project will be conducted in Universitas Hospital, and the scholarship makes it possible for us to party support two students per year on a full-time basis.
Linda van Tilburg (04:24.144)
You also said it would help you expand your maternal and child nutrition work. So how would this help?
Corinna Walsh (04:31.084)
Infant body composition is an important indicator of health throughout the life course and is closely linked to the health, nutrition and body composition of the mother. We plan to include all mothers who deliver their babies at Universitas Hospital. This will include premature babies and full-term babies. Fortunately, we have equipment for determining body composition in adults and young children. In adults, we can use the InBody based on bioimpedance analysis, as well as the DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) machine, and in babies, the PEAPOD body composition analyser is based on air displacement plethysmography. Once we have approval from our Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee, students in the department full-time will be able to collect information from patient files, complete questionnaires, take measurements, and measure the body composition of mothers and their children. So, we look forward to investigating the link between maternal and infant body composition and how that impacts health going forward.
Linda van Tilburg (06:00.158)
Could you share more about maternal and child nutrition in South Africa? Is it a significant public health issue?
Corinna Walsh (06:07.818)
It is a significant public health issue. In South Africa, we have high rates of malnutrition. If we consider the term malnutrition refers to undernutrition as well as overnutrition. We talk about the triple burden of malnutrition that we’re experiencing in South Africa. On the one hand, undernutrition includes children who are wasted and stunted, so they never reach their full height potential. On the other hand, we have children who gain weight rapidly and become overweight adolescents and adults. The one predisposes to the other – children who are stunted are potentially more likely to become overweight as they grow older. The third component of the triple burden is micronutrient deficiencies, such as iron deficiency.
In South Africa we’ve got high rates of stunting, approximately one in every three to four children is stunted. As you know, we also have very high rates of overweight and obesity in the adult population, with more than 60 % of South African women being either overweight or obese, with major implications for their health. Also, if pregnant women suffer from any of these forms of malnutrition, it impacts the growth of the foetus and the birth outcomes of the newborns, contributing to low birth weight and prematurity.
Linda van Tilburg (07:42.634)
So why are these kids stunted? When you talk about malnutrition, is there not enough food or not the right food?
Corinna Walsh (07:50.378)
It’s a combination. So, in some cases, children do not receive enough food, but in most cases, the quality of the food they receive is not what it should be. In South Africa, we are experiencing what we call a nutrition transition, which is a change from traditional diets that are low in sugar, low in salt, high in fibre, and lower in animal protein and fats to a diet that’s more Westernised – high in fat, sugar, salt, and highly processed foods. These are the kinds of foods that encourage overweight and obesity. People often eat a low-quality diet low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products.
Linda van Tilburg (08:58.026)
Well, when we talk about a celebrity like May Musk, she is still modelling, apart from this other side of this nutrition side that you’re talking about. Regarding nutrition and dietetics, what the world is talking about or what celebrities are known for is what Wegovy and Ozempic they are taking now. Is this surfacing in South Africa? Is it becoming an issue?
Corinna Walsh (09:26.274)
It is becoming an issue, and I think that there is a place for pharmacological management of overweight and obesity and even bariatric surgery in certain cases. But we probably have to distinguish between the public health sector and the private health sector. I think these are issues that are relevant in the private health sector but not options that are available to women in the public health sector.
If we want to address the problem of overweight and obesity, we have to go back to the impact of early malnutrition. We need to break the vicious cycle of malnutrition in pregnant women that increases the risk for poor birth outcomes and malnutrition in their children, leading them to suffer the same fate since poor birth outcomes have an impact on long-term health. The consequences are not only physical, affecting all the systems and organs – malnutrition also impacts brain development, and children who are malnourished never reach their full potential. Their ability to complete school and become productive members of society is also impacted. And if we can break that cycle by intervening in the pre-conception period, during pregnancy and early life, we can make a real difference. The time from conception to the second birthday is the first thousand days. We don’t want to save on any resources in the first thousand days. We want to make sure that pregnant women and young children receive the best care and nutrition that they can because this has implications in the long term on an individual level and even in terms of a country’s economy.
Linda van Tilburg (11:39.715)
Are these the reasons that Maye got involved?
Corinna Walsh (11:45.194)
It is, and I think also because of her happy memories of her time at the University of the Free State. After she completed her Master’s degree in our department, she continued to run a very successful nutrition business for more than 45 years in three different countries. She’s written the Dietetics professional board exams in South Africa, Canada, and the United States. Maye completed a second master’s degree at the University of Toronto and has won several awards, including the Outstanding Nutrition Entrepreneur Award that was awarded to her in the United States of America. She has served on some Nutrition and Dietetics Associations, often in leadership positions, where she has made a wonderful contribution to promoting nutrition and dietetics. In her work as an author, model and speaker, she continues to use her position on the global stage to promote healthy nutrition, which we find commendable.
Corinna Walsh (12:44.174)
Maye has the ability to communicate difficult scientific information in a practical way that the public understands. We consider this an excellent example of Engaged Scholarship – taking science and making it practical and living it in your everyday life, something that Maye has done very successfully. So, we’re grateful and proud to be associated with her at the University of the Free State.
Linda van Tilburg (13:50.996)
Can I ask in a bit gossipy tone what she is like?
Corinna Walsh (13:55.419)
She is the loveliest, down-to-earth, balanced, practical, entertaining, and thankful person. She says that during a very difficult time of her life, the people of Bloemfontein and the University of the Free State were so good to her, and she enjoyed her time here. When she visited us last year, we were amazed at how many of the friends she made in Bloemfontein were keen to meet up with her and chat about the happy memories she has of her time here.
Read also:
- Meet Tatjana Smith, SA’s home-grown superstar athlete
- PPO Serve: Value-based healthcare in a broken system – Chris Bateman
- From fireside to film: The ever-changing tale of fairy tales
