Ebook Low income diet and health – next steps
This paper has been prepared to stimulate discussion at the FSA stakeholder meeting on diet and low income, following publication of the Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey (LIDNS). The emphasis is on the next steps to be taken by the FSA to tackle inequalities and the links between food supplies,diets and health outcomes for people living on a low income, but other issues, such as food safety and hygiene, and the responsibilities of other government departments as well as non-governmental organisations should also be considered.
The paper uses the term nutrition insecurity as a term to describe the failure to meet the recommended dietary guidelines, and is intended to be used in the context of current concerns about the need for action to improve nutrition and reduce obesity for both low income groups and the wider population. The LIDNS survey and other NDNS surveys have shown that a failure to meet the recommended dietary guidelines extends across a broad range of lower and middle income households, suggesting that policies targeted only at lower income groups may be helpful but that ‘upstream’ measures may be needed to reduce nutrition insecurity – i.e. to remove barriers to achieving healthy diets.
The paper suggests that the Government has moved considerably in the last decade towards recognising its role in leading moves for better health and reducing health inequalities, and has acknowledged that cross-departmental policies and activities are needed. Further attention may need to be given to policy evaluation and to undertaking impact assessments of policies for their effects on reducing nutrition insecurity.
The main focus of the stakeholder meeting is to consider what action the FSA might consider in the light of the LIDNS survey. The section on policy opportunities makes some suggestions and asks for stakeholder views for discussion at the meeting. Subsequent sections provide some background material which participants may find helpful to familiarise themselves with the issues.
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