Food insecurity in the household: Interventions tackling children’s food insecurity, a commentary on a systematic review.

Abstract

In the UK, 7% of households are deemed food insecure, that is they are unable to access, acquire and prepare food for the table. Food insecurity is associated with numerous negative impacts for children such as a reduced nutritional intake, social, behavioural and developmental problems and reductions in academic or cognitive performance. Poorer mental health outcomes are also experienced by both children and parents living with food insecurity. A systematic review of interventions to tackle children’s food insecurity was undertaken by Holley et al. (2019). This commentary critically appraises the review and discusses what the findings imply for the provision of such interventions, particularly those related to holiday, activity and food clubs.