Children's Nutrition Action Plan - The Food Commission

Jenny McLeish
Maternity Alliance
We cannot have healthy, well-nourished children unless we first have healthy, well-nourished
women. A child’s health begins before birth and is influenced by the mother’s nutrition
during pregnancy and also her nutrition before conception.
Good nutrition before and during pregnancy, and the avoidance of smoking, can reduce the
risk of the baby being born at a low birthweight (below 2500g, or 5½ lb). Birthweight is a
key predictor of the future health and wellbeing of the child with low birthweight babies
being 40 times more likely than heavier babies to die in their first month, and 10 times more
likely to die in their first year. Low birthweight is also associated with an increased risk of
disabilities, brain damage, Special Educational Need, and chronic conditions in adulthood.
Low birthweight and its risks for child health and development are essentially a matter of
inequalities, since a baby born to a couple in Social Class V is 60% more likely to be born at
a low birthweight than a baby born to a couple in Social Class I. The baby of a lone mother is
twice as likely to have a low birthweight.
Issues for pregnant women living in poverty
The current level of means-tested benefits for out-of-work families is demonstrably too low
to support a healthy diet of the kind that midwives recommend for pregnancy.
• The ‘average’ cost of a realistic and nutritionally adequate diet for pregnancy is £20.75 a
week.
• A single pregnant women aged 18-24 receives £42 a week in benefit income, so would
have to spend nearly half of her weekly income on food to eat an adequate diet. Women
over 24 receive a higher weekly income (but still inadequate to meet the dietary costs)
and young women aged 16 or 17 receive much less (and indeed, many do not qualify for
benefits at all).
Age of single
woman
Weekly benefit
income
25+ £53.03 39%
18-24 £42 49%
16-17 £31.95 65%
Proportion of
income required for
adequate diet
• In fact pregnant women receiving Income Support spend on average just £15 a week on
food – a 25% shortfall.
Recommendations for future work
• End age discrimination in the benefits system against women under 25 and particularly
teenagers
• Ensure all young pregnant women in need have access to benefits.
• Increase benefits during pregnancy to a level adequate to support a healthy diet. This
could be done by adding a premium to means tested benefits during pregnancy, or starting
the Integrated Child Credit from confirmation of pregnancy not birth.
The Children’s Nutrition Action Plan, published by The Food Commission
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