Despite the UK's position as one of the richest countries in the world, a conference in London will hear this week that a growing number of British people on low incomes are poorly nourished.
Conference organisers the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) say that poverty and access seem to be keyfactors in this trend. The BNF claims that for the past 50 years the health gap in Britain between the better off and the poorest communities has widened not narrowed, and poorer people get sick more often and die earlier.
The one-day conference on Thursday 5 December, entitled 'Nutrition and Health on the Breadline', will focus on the links between nutrition, income and health inequalities. It will address groups at risk in the UK, food access, current UK government strategies tackling health inequalities and tackling food poverty in the local community.
The organisation added that four years ago an independent inquiry by Sir Donald Acheson warned on inequalities in health, but despite the government's commitment to tackle the issues, the problem remains large. Children born into lower income families are more likely to be born underweight and to have higher chances of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension when they grow up. The problem is not confined to any singlepart of the United Kingdom.
The conference, which is taking place at the Institute of Physics in London, is targeted at those working at community food workers, dietitians, nutritionists, and other health professionals, those working in academia and research, government employees and others in public health nutrition.
The British Nutrition Foundation is an independent, registered charity which raises funds from the food industry, government and other sources.