The benefits of a healthy diet begin at conception. Research has shown that maternal diet and weight strongly influence a child’s food preferences and growth. A child’s food preferences are strongly established during the first two years of life. If mothers are unable to eat sufficient vegetables during breastfeeding, or are unable to breastfeed, then their babies miss essential flavour exposure, and it can affect their diet quality. Providing support and guidance to mothers, especially those living in poverty and/or experiencing food insecurity to eat a balanced, healthy diet that includes a variety of vegetables is critical.
Families and their children living in poverty and experiencing food insecurity have poorer access to fresh fruit and vegetables and face many social, cultural, environmental, and economic barriers to achieving a balanced diet. Despite government investment in the Healthy Start scheme, which aims to provide a nutritional safety net to pregnant women and children under four, more than 250,000 under-fives who are assessed as ‘food insecure’ remain ineligible. Many communities face the triple burden of micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition and obesity, leaving children vulnerable to both health and social inequalities. These have potential lifelong consequences, affecting their language development and cognitive abilities such as attention and memory. These children begin their education at a serious disadvantage.
Over the past 30 years, researchers across several groups at the University of Leeds have developed significant expertise in all aspects of food and nutrition, including how diet affects disease, infant feeding, children’s eating behaviours, inequalities in diet and health and the development of obesity. In addition, the University of Leeds School of Food Science and Nutrition is a World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology, providing the WHO with expert advice about measuring dietary intake, interpreting research evidence, and monitoring food and nutrient intakes and behaviours. This wealth of expertise will feed into the food and nutrition workstream to support new parents and their children across Leeds.
Sessions within the food and nutrition workstream will be participant-led, but may cover:
- Breastfeeding advice, including practical support, peer support and overcoming barriers
- Responsive feeding for those using mixed method feeding (e.g., breast and formula feeding), including recognising hunger, appetite, and satiety cues
- Vegetable first approach to complementary feeding, in line with the SACN feeding young children aged 1 to 5 guidelines.
- Healthy dietary advice for families on a budget, including practical, experiential learning through cooking classes and practical advice for accessing Healthy Start vouchers
