Nutrition and health on the breadline – a conference held by the British Nutrition Foundation on 5 December 2002 at the Institute of Physics, London

Citation

(2003), "Nutrition and health on the breadline – a conference held by the British Nutrition Foundation on 5 December 2002 at the Institute of Physics, London", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 33 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2003.01733cac.001

Nutrition and health on the breadline – a conference held by the British Nutrition Foundation on 5 December 2002 at the Institute of Physics, London

Nutrition and health on the breadline – a conference held by the British Nutrition Foundation on 5 December 2002 at the Institute of Physics, London

Food poverty is an issue still present in today's affluent society and this conference was extremely well attended by a range of people involved in aspects of managing this situation.

Links between low incomes and food and nutrition as well as health were addressed by a number of speakers.

Professor Alan Jackson set the scene for the conference with a presentation on "Perspectives on food security, food access and health", which discussed the concept of food insecurity, distinguishing this from risk factors such as poverty.

Imogen Sharp of the Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer Prevention Unit of the Department of Health presented "An overview of current government policy activities and strategies for tackling health inequalities in England". She explained that the government was tackling inequalities in health by taking action on diet and physical activity, which included:

• •

  action to increase the incidence and duration of breast-feeding;

• •

  reform of the welfare food scheme;

• •

  the "five-a-day programme" which includes the national Fruit Scheme to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables;

• •

  local action on obesity and physical activity; and

• •

  work with the food industry to address the salt, fat and sugar in food products.

"Groups at risk in the UK and possible interventions" by Barrie Margetts discussed the different types of malnutrition and what aspects to consider when developing interventions.

"Food deserts and food access in the UK" by Daniel Warm explained that food deserts describe socially excluded deprived areas with poor retail provision as well as poor physical and economic access to food.

Michael Nelson explained "What we know about intakes of food and nutrients in low income groups in the UK" from the results of a two-year project on measuring diet in low-income households.

Karen Peploe from the Health Development Agency gave a presentation on "Making the most of policy opportunities in developing strategies". Effective interventions are those which:

• •

  use a range of different approaches;

• •

  create an environment which is supportive to dietary change;

• •

  are developed in response to identified need; and

• •

  are developed with the involvement and support of the community itself.

"Tackling food poverty in the local community" by Lynne Kennedy outlined the various factors which determine people's ability to eat a healthy diet.

Dave Rex detailed his experience of "Food poverty in Sandwell".

Professor Annie Anderson summarised the future challenges for food security in her presentation entitled "Where do we go from here?"