It’s not a mainstream issue – or hasn’t been until now. But a new study warns that high food prices may be putting expectant moms at risk. And their babies may be coming into the world dangerously underweight…
Significantly more government and retail sector support is needed
to keep those smiles on the faces of new moms and their babies…
It’s obvious when someone points it out. And it’s a truly serious oversight. One that’s been putting the health of new moms and their newborns at significant risk. Food insecure expectant mothers have a higher chance of developing both physical and mental health problems.
Exhaustive analysis
Researches at Newcastle University (UK) data-mined information banks dating back to 2008, from a number of high-income countries. They were looking for patterns they suspected might show up, indicating the need for increased support for lower-income families whose food choices and oppor-tunities were being limited by high prices.
Shocking numbers
In recent years, food insecurity has more than doubled in the UK.
Before COVID, fewer than one in 10 households in the UK were experiencing food insecurity. However it is now estimated that a quarter of households with babies and young children are food insecure. Overall, almost half of all households with three or more children now fall into the insecure category.
What they found
The study warns that women who are what is termed ‘food insecure’ are up to four times more likely to have poor mental as well as physical health – including suffering from stress, anxiety, and depres-sion – than those who don’t struggle to afford or access decent food.
The mums-to-be are also at increased risk of obesity, developing diabetes during their pregnancy and dental problems. As well, their babies have an increased risk of delivery underweight, and lag-ging behind their peers as they grow through their crucial early years.
The takeaway
“While we were expecting to see some health risks during pregnancy, the extent of those we found was quite shocking,” says Nicola Heslehurst, Professor of Maternal and Child Nutrition at Newcastle University.
Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy, “also has long-term implications, such as moms and their children being more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life.”
An abstract of the new study says its results provide clear evidence that more support is needed to reduce the impact of food insecurity.”
The study also underlines that food banks and other temporary measures to offset food insecurity are not doing the job. Considerably more government support is needed to ensure mothers and their children have access to proper nutrition.
My take
The study included long-term health records from the UK, the EU and North America. So we’re all in the same boat.
It’s unfortunate – to say the least – that this issue has not been addressed sooner. Thousands of children have probably been seriously affected by inadequate nutrition already. And those ill effects may hound them the rest of their lives.
This is also just one more injustice the food retail sector must answer for, in the wake of its contin-uing resistance to taking serious measures of their own to reduce food prices that are out of reach for more and more consumers…
~ Maggie J.