SunLive – Children who don’t have healthy food, study shows

Rising food prices mean our poorest families can’t afford to feed their children healthy diets, a new study has found.

The University of Auckland study, published in Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealandfound it was “virtually impossible” for families on benefit to feed their children healthily.

Health experts and children’s advocates are calling the findings “shameful” and urging the government to prioritize children’s health over grocery store profits.

Lead researcher and GP Dr Joanna Strom says nutrition for children creates a foundation for the rest of their lives.

“Nutrition is so important for children as they develop and what we eat affects not only our physical health, but also our mental health.

“If children eat too much processed food, high in fat and sugar and become overweight, with poor dental health, they can’t move their bodies well and that affects how they interact with other children.”

In her research, Joanna designed a tool to model the costs for a family with two children.

Joanna focused her study on the ‘low-cost healthy food’ index produced by Statistics New Zealand.

It found that prices rose by 35% from 2018 to 2023, with the largest annual increase being a 13.6% increase in 2023.

“Overall, there’s been a year-over-year increase in these lower-cost healthy foods over the last six years that’s higher than the overall food price index, and that’s concerning.”

Joanna says the data becomes more worrying when you consider that children’s needs increase as they grow.

She says in its 2023 report, the Child Poverty Action Group estimated that a family with two children who rented and received government benefits could have an income of $1157 a week.

She says that using the tool and data collected from CPAG, she found that this family would run a $212 shortfall each week if they fed their children healthy, low-cost foods.

CPAG spokesperson and AUT nutrition professor Dr Elaine Rush says high rates of malnutrition will affect New Zealand’s future health needs and productivity.

“The child cannot wait: the time to invest in their future is now.”

Co-chair of the Health Coalition Aotearoa’s (HCA) food policy expert advisory group, Dr Sally Mackay, says it’s an “impossible challenge” for low-income families.

“It is a shame that New Zealand cannot provide better access to healthy food for its own most vulnerable citizens.

“Children’s nutritional needs must be prioritized in our food policies and systems over food industry profits.”

– Bay of Plenty Times.