PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Healthy Start is life changing and could reach more families if it was reframed and better coordinated and resourced, says study

2024-05-08
(Press-News.org) The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research arm of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and was led by Professor Christina Vogel, Director of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London. DHSC commissioned this work to evaluate the Healthy Start scheme in England and understand how the scheme can be improved to reach more eligible families.

The Healthy Start scheme was launched in 2006. It offers financial support and free vitamins for pregnant women and families with children under four years of age who are living on a low income as defined by the eligibility criterion. Prior to March 2022 families were offered paper vouchers but the financial component of the scheme is now a digital prepayment card. The research shows that digitalisation has improved usability of the scheme for most people. Currently around 366,000 have taken up the prepayment card of 506,309 families who are currently eligible. Cardholders receive £4.25 per week per child or per week of pregnancy (or £8.50 per week per child from birth to 1 year) and can use their Healthy Start prepayment card to buy fruit, vegetables, milk, infant formula and pulses.

Project manager and lead author of the paper Millie Barrett, said: “Healthy Start has been described to us as ‘life-changing’, ‘transformational’, and a ‘lifeline’ for families who struggle to afford basic healthy foods. Given that a fifth of all children in the UK are living in food insecure households and this policy can help, the commissioned work has led us to hear from a large number of people to better understand why Healthy Start uptake remains suboptimal and identify what can be done to increase its use.”

The work involved hearing from more than 100 people across England who promote, implement or use the scheme, including health professionals, retailers and eligible families. The findings show that across the system people universally support Healthy Start and view it as vital support for pregnant women and families living on a low income. But with 3.5 people in every 10 eligible still not using Healthy Start, those interviewed believed that reframing the scheme as a child’s right to good food and healthy development, rather than a benefit, voucher or handout, could improve uptake. They also wanted promotional efforts to be better coordinated and sufficiently resourced so eligible families can have a helping hand to complete the application with people they trust and in places they regularly visit, like community or children’s centres or places of worship. Full details of the study, including the seven recommendations, are presented in the open-access journal BMC Medicine.

Professor Christina Vogel, Director of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, said: “Our study highlights the importance of the scheme and ways in which efforts to implement Healthy Start locally and nationally could be better coordinated so more families can benefit. In the context of ever-widening health inequalities in the UK, there should be no delay in the implementation of the recommendations that have come out of our study. Healthy Start is a much-loved and appreciated scheme that helps give all children a chance at the best start in life.”

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study exposes alarming risks to Scotland's food delivery couriers

2024-05-08
A new study highlighting the risks encountered by food delivery couriers reveals a majority feel ‘unsafe’ when at work with every woman surveyed having experienced sexual harassment or abuse. Led by Dr Pedro Mendonca from the Centre for Employment, Work and the Professions (CREWs) at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh Business School, the two-year project gathered feedback from 207 workers, including 33 women, employed in the food delivery industry in cities across Scotland.   It reveals more than 81% felt unsafe in their job yet continued due to financial necessity while 78% believed their ...

Mobile teams bring COVID-19 vaccines to rural villages in Sierra Leone

Mobile teams bring COVID-19 vaccines to rural villages in Sierra Leone
2024-05-07
URBANA, Ill. – COVID-19 vaccination rates remain low in many African countries, often because providing access to vaccines is difficult in remote areas. A new international research project showed that intervention with mobile vaccination teams in Sierra Leone is an effective way of reaching rural populations to increase vaccination uptake. Madison Levine, a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, participated in the project as a field research assistant. She is a co-author ...

Kinsey Institute study shows female gamers only label half of sexual harassment incidents they experience as such

2024-05-07
A new study from the Kinsey Institute reveals that only 50.5% of women who were targets of sexual harassment during online gaming identified qualifying incidents as such. This figure dropped further to only 42.2% for women who witnessed sexual harassment of other women while gaming.    The study included 182 women from North America who played online video games at least once a week. Researchers examined a variety of sexual harassment behaviors, from unwanted sexual remarks to explicit images to sexual threats. In line with ...

New NIH grant aims to combat sight damage from diabetes

2024-05-07
DETROIT — Fu-Shin Yu, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology, visual and anatomical sciences in the Wayne State University School of Medicine, received an award from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health for his study aiming to reverse the adverse effects of diabetes on eyesight. The five-year grant for $2,167,882 will benefit Yu’s research “Role of Programmed Cell Death Pathways in Bacterial Keratitis,” Which will investigate biological processes that ...

Research shows altered regulation of genes linked to prostate cancer among firefighters

2024-05-07
Firefighters may have an increased risk of prostate cancer due to on-the-job chemical exposures, according to new research from the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and University of Michigan in collaboration with fire service partners and researchers around the country through the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study. Prostate cancer is the leading incident cancer among U.S. males. Firefighters are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a rate 1.21 times higher than the general population, possibly because of chemical exposures including smoke and firefighting foam during firefighting. Some of those chemicals ...

Seven ORNL inventions licensed to Texas-based lithium recovery firm

Seven ORNL inventions licensed to Texas-based lithium recovery firm
2024-05-07
A collection of seven technologies for lithium recovery developed by scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been licensed to Element3, a Texas-based company focused on extracting lithium from wastewater produced by oil and gas production.  The technologies were developed through the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames National Laboratory that is dedicated to accelerating scientific and technological solutions to ensure secure domestic supply chains for ...

New physicians’ exam scores tied to patient survival

2024-05-07
At a glance: How well a newly minted doctor scores on their medical board exam appears linked to patients’ odds of dying or being readmitted to the hospital. Doctors’ performance on ratings of knowledge and skill taken periodically during residency training is not linked to patient outcomes. Findings offer reassurance that certification exams, which aim to demonstrate the competence of physicians, capture critical knowledge and clinical judgment skills for physicians.   How do we know whether newly minted doctors have what it takes to ...

Association of inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers and accelerated aging in cardiac catheterization patients

Association of inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers and accelerated aging in cardiac catheterization patients
2024-05-07
“[...] this study is an initial examination of the associations between epigenetic and transcriptomic aging biomarkers and novel NMR lipoprotein biomarkers.” BUFFALO, NY- May 7, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 8, entitled, “Associations among NMR-measured inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers and accelerated aging in cardiac catheterization patients.” Research ...

This sound-suppressing silk can create quiet spaces

This sound-suppressing silk can create quiet spaces
2024-05-07
We are living in a very noisy world. From the hum of traffic outside your window to the next-door neighbor’s blaring TV to sounds from a co-worker’s cubicle, unwanted noise remains a resounding problem. To cut through the din, an interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers from MIT and elsewhere developed a sound-suppressing silk fabric that could be used to create quiet spaces.  The fabric, which is barely thicker than a human hair, contains a special fiber that vibrates when a voltage is applied to it. The researchers leveraged those vibrations to suppress ...

New CUNY-GLOBE partnership will expand and innovate NASA’s environmental science and education program infrastructure

New CUNY-GLOBE partnership will expand and innovate NASA’s environmental science and education program infrastructure
2024-05-07
NEW YORK, May 7, 2024 — A team of researchers from the CUNY Graduate Center, the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (CUNY ASRC), Brooklyn College, and Lehman College has been selected to receive a highly competitive cooperative agreement award aimed at expanding and innovating NASA’s Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. The five-year, $11.1-million project awarded to the CUNY Graduate Center will help advance GLOBE’s mission to create a worldwide community of students, educators, scientists, and members of the public who work together to better understand, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New lignin-based hydrogel breakthrough for wound healing and controlled drug release

Enhancing compatibility and biodegradability of PLA/biomass composites via forest residue torrefaction

Time alone heightens ‘threat alert’ in teenagers – even when connecting on social media

Study challenges long-held theories on how migratory birds navigate 

Unlocking the secrets of ketosis

AI analysis of PET/CT images can predict side effects of immunotherapy in lung cancer

Making an impact. Research studies a new side of helmet safety: faceguard failures

Specific long term condition combinations have major role in NHS ‘winter pressures’

Men often struggle with transition to fatherhood amid lack of targeted information and support

More green space linked to fewer preventable deaths in most deprived areas of UK

Immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab improves outcomes for patients with soft tissue sarcoma

A formula for life? New model calculates chances of intelligent beings in our Universe and beyond

Could a genetic flaw be the key to stopping people craving sugary treats?

Experts urge complex systems approach to assess A.I. risks

Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increase again in 2024

Winners of Applied Microbiology International Horizon Awards 2024 announced

A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse

Can everyday physical activity improve cognitive health in middle age?

Updated guidance reaffirms CPR with breaths essential for cardiac arrest following drowning

Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation

New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk

'Grow Your Own' teacher prep pipeline at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette funded by US Department of Education

Lab-grown human immune system uncovers weakened response in cancer patients

More than 5 million Americans would be eligible for psychedelic therapy, study finds

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers find community health workers play critical role in coordinating asthma care across home, school and community

Comprehensive Genomic Profiling leads to better patient outcomes, new joint study says  

Animated movie characters with strabismus are more likely to be villains, study finds

How retailers change ordering strategy when a supplier starts its own direct channel

Young coral use metabolic tricks to resist bleaching

Protecting tax whistleblowers pays off

[Press-News.org] Healthy Start is life changing and could reach more families if it was reframed and better coordinated and resourced, says study