Nutrition and Food Insecurity

Service information and resources for nutrition and food insecurity.

Introduction: Good nutrition is vital for lifelong health and development, helping prevent conditions like obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Food insecurity can make it difficult for individuals and families to access a healthy, balanced diet, increasing the risk of poor health outcomes and widening health inequalities.
Services commissioned by public health: Created for professionals working with children and families, the Food Labs programme helps to engage children and families in fun, hands-on ways to explore food together. Find practical tools to help them develop confidence, nurture curiosity and become familiar with a wide range of foods.
Partnerships: Hampshire County Council is a member of UK charity Feeding Britain. If you are a food club, food partnership or support provision, you can become a member to join a network of local partnerships working to eliminate hunger through affordable food, holiday programmes and advice services.

There are local food partnerships in most of Hampshire’s districts and boroughs, please check your local council or community website. These partnerships work to improve access to nutritious, local food, based on community needs.

The Hampshire Food Alliance is a county-wide partnership that brings together national and local organisations, community groups and local authorities to improve food security and create a more sustainable, resilient and equitable food system. The alliance supports collaboration, shares good practice and helps coordinate action on key issues such as food insecurity, healthy eating, food waste and access to affordable, nutritious food for all residents.

If you require further details about these partnerships, please contact [email protected].
Training and resources: All Our Health is a resource which helps health and care professionals and the wider public health workforce prevent ill health and promote wellbeing as part of their everyday work.

The Eatwell Guide helps people understand the different types of food needed to have a healthy balanced diet. It has also been adapted for South Asian diets, African and Caribbean diets and vegan diets.

NHS Choices - Have a healthy diet in pregnancy provides useful information and advice about eating healthily in pregnancy, to help babies develop and grow.

The Healthy Start scheme helps eligible people who are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, to get help to buy healthy food and milk. Healthy Start - GOV.UK

Discover NHS information and resources on healthy eating for teenagers.

For healthy recipes, food swaps, nutritional advice, and top tips and activities to help the whole family stay healthy visit Healthier Families - Home - NHS

Explore this age-appropriate resource on food and nutrition for older adults aged 65+: Eating, drinking and ageing well - BDA

The food ladder is a conceptual framework for food insecurity that fosters community engagement through helping build safe, connected and resilient places. It includes a Food Ladders Toolkit | GeoFoodie

You can find information on helping older people to maintain a healthy diet in this report:
Helping older people to maintain a healthy diet: A review of what works

To locate Hampshire Community Pantries, visit Support from Community pantries.

To locate some of Hampshire’s food banks, and other community food support provisions, visit Connect to Support Hampshire: choose community directory and search for food bank Search | Hampshire CTSH