Improving the average UK diet & reducing health inequalities. Dr Helen Crawley

Transcription

1 Improving the average UK diet & reducing health inequalities Dr Helen Crawley

2 The average UK diet is poorer than you think

3 Over last century? Same basic food, but packaged and nutritionally damaged

4 Square Meal report we don t have a plan food is not properly on anyone s agenda deregulation and austerity corrupt and damage food systems there is no transparency about the value of food where does the 196billion we spend on food go?

5 And most food, health, farming, environmental and trade groups who support the consumer, worker and wider world agree There is overwhelming evidence for major changes to national food and farming policy We need to get a grip on the growing crisis of obesity and diet-related ill-health, tackle food poverty, ensure fair food supply chains Political parties override the science and the evidence to maintain the status quo

6 Two key initiatives to improve UK diet? Responsibility deals changing processed/packaged foods to make them a little less of a poor choice Change4life

7 (2014) money off vouchers on the following brands: Flora Light Cheeky Cow half-fat cheese Pepsi MAX Robinson s Fruit Squash with No Added Sugar Uncle Ben s Rice Time Green Giant Salt Free Sweet Corn.

8 Each serving of 300g contains 399kcal, 6.9g sugars, 11.7g fat, 3.9g saturates, 1.5g salt and about ½ portion veg costs about 1.99 Is cooked rice with a flavoured tomato sauce you pour on top, with very small pieces of vegetables and a long list of ingredients Is it a meal? Is it a snack?

9 Or you can make your own Boiled rice and a tin of ratatouille Costs 20p for a 330g portion, has 333kcal, 130g vegetables, 0.5g salt, 2g fat, 0g saturates and no added sugar and you can serve in a re-cyclable pot

10 And if you. Make your own ratatouille from the cheapest fresh onion, courgette, pepper, canned tomatoes more vegetables, more nutrients, less salt, no fat still much cheaper per portion (30p/portion) Make ratatouille with all organic vegetables, organic basmati brown rice all delivered to your door. greatly increase the nutritional quality - still cheaper per portion ( 1/portion) And where does that money go?

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12 Reducing health inequalities? Eat well across the whole lifespan

13 @ White/ringtones es.com/artist-songs/barry-white/ringtones

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15 Impact of poor nutrition in early life Growth stunting Poorer immune system Impaired cognitive development Childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes Tooth decay Poorer speech development related to slow development chewing Fussiness around food type and texture leading to more limited diets

16 Low maternal iodine status was associated with an increased risk of suboptimum scores for verbal IQ at age 8 years, and reading accuracy, comprehension and reading score at age 9 years Results suggested a worsening trend in cognitive outcome with decreasing maternal status Possible in-utero effect of sub-optimal iodine status 2013;382:331-37

17 Poorer families have poorer diets Latest (careful) summary from National Diet and Nutrition Survey analysis by equivalised income quintile showed some evidence of income differences in diet and nutrient intake with those in lower income quintiles tending to have poorer diets

18 Childhood obesity is related to income Source:

19 Closing the gap in a generation? There are no shortage of reports and recommendations pointing out just how crucial the early years are for reducing inequalities and which spell out the impact of austerity measures on health inequality

20 If you want to make a difference. Make a difference Invest where it matters we can afford it Children s centres should be in every area it is shameful that any have been cut Every pregnant woman should see a dietitian to talk about family health Health visitors need proper nutritional training Healthy Start needs to be tripled in value, fully supported with training and all eligible recipients given opportunities to cook and try

21 The UK needs to Have an honest and open debate about infant feeding - why are we wasting the most nutritionally valuable, free, sustainable resource on the planet? Adopt the WHO code of marketing of breast milk substitutes in full Think carefully about how foods and drinks are marketed to infants and young children children are too important to be marketing targets.

22 Public health needs to be independent

23 Children can eat real food too

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