Nutrition during the cost-of-living crisis

 

As increasing inflation is leading to a continual rise in food prices, with financial forecasts predicting the situation to only worsen, there are growing reports of families struggling to feed themselves and their children.

 

There is a worrying trend of decreasing diet quality across the UK during the cost-of-living crisis. Proper nutrition for the whole family helps deliver vital nutrients that support proper growth and maintenance of the human body. In early years, proper nutrition plays a key role in the physical and mental development of children. In children under two years old, nutrient deficiencies can lead to irreversible permanent mental and physical damage (1000 DAYS, 2022). In addition to this, poor quality diets in infancy are associated with extra weight by the time school age is reached, which can lead to obesity in later life (Okubo et al., 2015).

 

Eating a balanced diet during these unprecedented times is not an easy task, but it is an important one.

 

Below is a range of different organisations that have a wide range of useful information – from eating well on a budget to what nutrition is.

 

First Steps Nutrition Trust: https://www.firststepsnutrition.org/eating-well-resources

 

Better Health Healthier Families: https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/

 

British Dietetic Association: Eat well, spend less: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/food-facts-eat-well-spend-less.html

 

Seasonal Fruit and Veg guide: https://www.bda.uk.com/food-health/your-health/sustainable-diets/seasonal-fruit-and-veg-a-handy-guide.html

 

British Heart Foundation: Eating healthy on a tight budget: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/eat-well-on-a-budget

Age UK: Eating well affordably:https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bp-assets/globalassets/salford/forms/nutrition-and-hydration/eating-well-affordably-pdf.pdf

 

Community Pantry Schemes and Food banks: https://www.ruralactionderbyshire.org.uk/foodbanks

 

How to eat well as an older person who is underweight: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/site-elements/documents/pdf/social-health/health-and-wellbeing/your-health/weight-management/eating-well/eat-well-a-short-guide-for-underweight-older-people.pdf

 

Love Food Hate Waste: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/environment/rubbish-waste/love-food-hate-waste/love-food-hate-waste.aspx

 

Eatwell Guide: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528193/Eatwell_guide_colour.pdf

 

Coeliac UK: keeping a balanced diet: https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/your-gluten-free-hub/home-of-gluten-free-recipes/healthy-eating/keeping-a-balanced-diet/?&&type=rfst&set=true#cookie-widget

 

Vegetarian Eatwell Guide: https://vegsoc.org/info-hub/health-and-nutrition/vegetarianeatwellguide/

 

Vegan Eatwell Guide:  https://www.vegansociety.com/sites/default/files/uploads/downloads/The%20Vegan%20Eatwell%20Guide_1.pdf 

Video: Eatwell Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MlE4G8ntss

 

Video: Eatwell Guide alternatives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4puRnrqA0vI

 

Written by our volunteer, Becky Butler

 

References

1,000 Days. (2022). Issues - 1,000 Days. [online] Available at: https://thousanddays.org/issues/ [Accessed 9 Sep. 2022].

Okubo, H., Crozier, S.R., Harvey, N.C., Godfrey, K.M., Inskip, H.M., Cooper, C. and Robinson, S.M. (2015). Diet quality across early childhood and adiposity at 6 years: the Southampton Women’s Survey. International Journal of Obesity, [online] 39(10), pp.1456–1462. doi:10.1038/ijo.2015.97.