Nutrition and poverty : the case of lone-parent households in the U.K (original) (raw)
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Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 2008
Members of low-income households in the UK are more likely to have patterns of food and nutrient intakes that are less inclined to lead to good health outcomes in the short and long term. Health inequalities, including the likelihood of child and adulthood obesity, have long been documented in the UK and show little sign of improving so far, despite 10 years of attention from a government that has committed itself to addressing them. Following the Acheson Inquiry into Inequalities in Health (1998) in England a number of initiatives to tackle inequalities in food and diet were established, both nationally and within the devolved nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, until recently, there has been no overall strategic policy addressing the food and nutritional needs of low-income households. The present paper reviews how the problems have been constructed and understood and how they have been addressed, briefly drawing on recent evaluations of food and nutriti...
Which Types of Family are at Risk of Food Poverty in the UK? A Relative Deprivation Approach
Social Policy and Society
Not enough is known in the UK about how economic phenomena and policy changes have impacted families’ ability to feed themselves. This article employs a novel way of identifying the types of UK families at risk of food poverty over time. Applying a relative deprivation approach, it asks what counts in the UK as a socially acceptable diet that meets needs for health and social participation and how much this costs. Comparing this to actual food expenditure by different family types, between 2005 and 2013, it identifies which are spending less than expected and may be at risk of food poverty. The analysis finds the proportion has increased over time for most family types and for lone parents and large families in particular. The discussion considers findings in light of changing economic and policy contexts and the implications for policy responses of how food poverty is defined and measured.
Nutritionism and the construction of 'poor choices' in families facing food insecurity
Journal of health psychology, 2016
The dominant research approach to both food insecurity and charitable meal provision is nutritionistic, deficit-orientated and ignores wider socio-economic issues. This reinforces existing power dynamics and overlooks the agency of people living food-insecure lives. We critique this dominant approach and draw on the everyday experiences of families facing food insecurity to ground an alternative approach that emphasises food as a social determinant of health.
Australian Journal of Public Health, 2010
Abstract: This descriptive study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine the food and nutrient intake, food purchasing patterns and budgeting strategies of 29 sole-parent low-income families with dependent children living in Corio Shire, Victoria, in 1989–90. Expenditure on food and nonalcoholic beverages when compared with the average for all Australian households showed that the study families allocated a greater proportion, but similar amounts of money to cereals, dairy products, fruit and vegetables and miscellaneous foods, and less to meat, nonalcoholic beverages and food eaten away from home. Despite large differences in the amount of money spent in the first and second weeks of a social security payment period, the nutrient density of the parents' diets was maintained at a similar level in both weeks. The only exception was vitamin C, for which the median intake was significantly lower in the second week, consistent with reduced purchases of fruit and vegetables in the same period. In interviews with 13 of the parents a variety of purchasing and budgeting strategies were described, indicating common concerns with making the most of their limited resources. The data from this study support the notion that low-income families give priority to food purchases above other expenses such as recreation. They also support the view that low-income families are concerned about health and nutrition and manage to consume nutritionally sound diets under difficult circumstances. Nutrition education programs could support them in this endeavour.
Nutrition and poverty in Europe: An overview
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 1997
The paper begins with discussion of definitions of poverty that are currently used in Europe and some of the theoretical issues in which nutrition plays a part in operationalizing them. Data on those living in poverty are briefly reviewed, and the paper concludes with an even briefer review of nutrition data pertaining to the poor. POVERTY DEFINITIONS The definition adopted in the European Council in December 1984 is that 'the Poor shall be taken to mean persons, families and groups of persons whose resources (material, cultural, social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State in which they live'. Earlier European Union (EU) efforts to define and measure poverty had been confined to income-based measures, identifying those whose disposable income was below a specified level. The first EU poverty programme had set this level at 50 % of the average disposable per capita income in the relevant member state. This 1984 definition was a more far-sighted approach in that it included resources other than income, and introduced the idea of social exclusion. 'Exclusion processes are dynamic and multidimensional in nature. They are linked not only to unemployment and/or to low income, but also to housing conditions, levels of education and opportunities, health, discrimination, citizenship and integration into the local community' (definition from a recent European Social Policy White Paper: European Commission, 1994). In contrast to this definition, income gives only a crude measure of poverty as it excludes services in kind as well as household or individual access to resources and skills. Income-based measures also give no sense of the cumulative impact of poverty; of how exclusion from decent housing and social amenities, transport, from health and education services, and from the general way of life accepted as customary in a given society, affects people over time. Defining poverty in terms of exclusion moves the debate on from absolute to relative issues and measures. 'Absolute' measures identify a threshold, below which people are recognized to be in poverty and above which they are not; in other words, a minimal level of income which is supposed to be adequate to meet basic needs. 'Relative' measures define poverty in relation to a generally accepted standard of living in a specific society at a https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms.
Nutrition and inequalities: A note on sociological approaches
The European Journal of Public Health, 2002
Background: This article provides an overview of three approaches taken to illuminate the sociological contribution to the field of nutrition and inequalities, in the hope of prompting future researchers to pursue the lines of enquiry suggested. Approaches: Under the heading of inequalities in food use, the paper first exemplifies the utility of 'political arithmetic', possibly the sociological approach best known in public health. This includes socio-economic patterning in food purchases as well as disadvantage in access, where studies of poverty represent a longstanding focus. A rural/urban dimension has, however, been left dormant. A second approach is illustrated by work on public understandings of nutrition, encompassing primarily small-scale studies of beliefs about nutrition, which emphasise the plurality of lay definitions of diet and health. Lacking are studies which build on this work to uncover the relation to health inequalities. Third to be introduced is sociological work on the social distribution of taste, which illuminates the potential for examining enduring, shared ideas of styles in eating embedded in forms of the social organisation of the home that is associated with different socio-economic levels. Conclusion: The paper ends with comment on practical implications for public health practice and policy designed to reduce inequalities in nutrition.
Food Insecurity: A Constant Factor in the Lives of Low-Income Families in Scotland and England
Frontiers in Public Health, 2021
During the school summer holidays, pressures on the already tight budgets of low-income families are compounded, particularly when the safety net of free school meals is removed. The main aim of the current study was to investigate how low-income parents and carers feed their families during term time when children receive free school meals and if, and how, strategies differ during the school summer holidays. A secondary aim was to investigate the role of holiday activity and food programmes in supporting parents and carers to feed their children during the school summer holidays. We used purposive sampling to recruit a total of 21 parents (N = 20 Female, N = 1 Male) whose children attended free summer holiday clubs in Scotland and England during summer 2017. Participants were asked about their food and shopping habits during the school term and if, and how they differed during the school summer holidays when free school meals were not available. The findings suggest that food insec...