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Healthy Start Scheme 29
●● poorer households have a less diverse diet and ●● relatively inexpensive sweet foods are given as
are less likely to experiment with new foods treats in place of more expensive treats such as
toys and branded clothes and shoes
●● socio-demographic status of mothers influences
the type of diet eaten during pregnancy and the ●● the variety of fruit and vegetables available for
foods fed to her children purchase in small local shops may be limited
and of poorer quality
●● poverty and poor housing often have an effect
on a mother’s physical and emotional wellbeing ●● families are unlikely to purchase fruit and
and these in turn affect the choice of foods she vegetables again if the children did not like
makes for her children them.
●● although there is no significant difference in Government-funded schemes to support the
energy intake between different socio-economic nutritional intake of children in low-income
groups, the intakes of most vitamins and families include:
minerals in children is lower in lower socio-
economic groups ●● Healthy Start scheme
●● dental caries and iron-deficiency anaemia are ●● free school milk for young children and
both more common in under-fives in subsidized milk for others
low-income households.
●● free school meals.
Costs that a low-income family might prioritize
over buying food include: Entitlement varies and is changed from time to
time by governmental policy.
●● rent/housing
●● heating and lighting Healthy Start Scheme
●● gas and electricity bills
●● clothes and shoes for children. This scheme is the latest version of a UK
Government-funded scheme to give nutritional
In 2003 a survey for the National Children’s Home support to low-income families with pregnant
(2004) found that: women and children under 4 years (www.
healthystart.nhs.uk). Eligibility to join the scheme
●● 1 of families didn’t have enough money for food depends on family income except for pregnant
5 teenagers under 18 years who are all entitled to join
2 irrespective of their financial circumstances.
●● 5 of families had only just enough money for food
Under the scheme low-income families and
●● almost half of parents had gone short of food so pregnant teenagers are entitled to:
the children had enough.
●● weekly vouchers to buy fruit, vegetables, milk
Food choices are limited in low-income families and infant formula
because:
●● free vitamin supplements for pregnant and
●● there may be no public transport links to large breastfeeding women and children under 4
supermarkets where foods are cheaper than in years of age.
smaller local shops
Activity 4
●● families cannot take advantage of better value
bulk buys as their fridge and cupboard storage is Make a list of factors that need to be addressed
extremely limited or non-existent around food and nutrition in low-income
families.
●● families are more likely to spend limited resources
on cheap and filling foods that are less nutritious
