Parents of under-fives struggling with affordability of healthy food

The Food Foundation report "Boosting early years nutrition to support a healthy childhood" explores the different factors acting as facilitators and barriers to healthy feeding of babies and children aged 1-4. It covers a range of factors to food consumed in and out of home, including in early years settings such as nurseries. 

It includes YouGov polling of parents which found that:

• More than one in three (35%) parents surveyed say price is a barrier to feeding their child as they would like to
• Over 8 in 10 parents (84%) say good nutrition is a key consideration when deciding what to feed their children, while 56% say price and affordability is
• More than one in three (35%) said having more affordable options available was the support needed to help them to feed their child the types of food they would like to
• Support schemes for low-income families, such as Healthy Start and Free Early Years Meals (FEYM), are currently not reaching many who need them
• An estimated 200,000 children in early years settings are eligible for child poverty support but still do not qualify for FEYM.

Dr Hannah Brinsden, Head of Policy and Advocacy at The Food Foundation, and co-author of the report, said:

"The Child Poverty Strategy is an opportunity for the government to prove they are serious about giving children the best start in life and raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

"It is vital that we invest in good nutrition in the early years in order to help tackle widespread health and diet inequalities from a young age. A commitment to strengthening Healthy Start and Free School Meals to ensure that more children in poverty have access to these nutritional safety nets is a must have for the Child Poverty Strategy."

The report's recommendations include:

1. Strengthening nutritional safety nets for families with young children, including expansion of Free Early Years Meals (FEYM) and Healthy Start payments

2. Strengthening standards on the marketing and nutritional quality of commercial baby foods and milk formula, in line with World Health Organisation Europe's Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) and UK public health recommendations, and UK law on marketing of breastmilk substitutes. 

3. Support early years settings to deliver nutritious food for all young children, ensuring that funded hours support settings with providing nutritious, sustainable and culturally appropriate food, and supporting the implementation and monitoring of the updated EYFS nutrition guidance from September 2025 with adequate training, funding and practical support.

4. Improve the incentives in the wider food system to deliver better nutrition for all ages, including expansion of taxes on food manufacturers for products high in salt and sugar, and investing revenues into child health measures supporting families on low incomes, which is the focus of our Recipe for Change campaign. The report also calls for mandatory healthy and sustainable food reporting systems for the food and drink industry.

Read the Food Foundation's press release and full report.

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