Food insecurity and health in the first 1,001 days.

Aim: To explore the experiences of food insecurity during and after pregnancy amongst women in Lambeth, South London (UK).

Funders: Economic and Social Research Council funded 12-month postdoctoral fellowship.

Dates: 1/10/2023 to 30/09/2024

Investigators: Academic: Dr Zoë Bell, Professor Seeromanie Harding, Dr Angela Flynn, Collaborator: Lambeth Health Determinants Research Centre (HDRC).

Food, Pregnancy and Me: Exploring food insecurity in pregnancy in the UK to inform future Public Health intervention needs

Aim: To identify the levels of food insecurity in pregnancy in the North East and West Midlands (UK), how this impacts on diet and pregnancy health outcomes for pregnant people and their babies, the costs of this to maternity services and wider healthcare, and to explore experiences and support needs.

Funders: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research (SPHR)

Dates: 01/09/2023 to 31/07/2025

Investigators: Academic Leads: Nicola Heslehurst (Newcastle University, UK), Kiya Hurley (University of Birmingham, UK), Kate Jolly (University of Birmingham, UK), Heather Brown (Lancaster University, UK); Academic Co-investigators: Zainab Akhter, Ella Dyer, Judith Rankin, Steph Scott, Gina Nguyen, Kerry Brennan-Tovey (Newcastle University), Amelia Lake (Teesside University), Rachel Loopsta (University of Liverpool). Collaborators Public Health: Alice Wiseman, Emma Gibson (Gateshead Council); Angela Baker, Harbir Nagra (Coventry City Council); Sushma Acquilla (Independent); Maternity Services: Christine Moller-Christensen (Gateshead NHS Trust); Nicola Flint (Coventry NHS Trust); Voluntary Sector: Dianne Williams (Moat House Community Trust, Coventry Feeding Network); Sonya Dickie (Felling Food Network).

https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/food-pregnancy-and-me/

Exploring and responding to food insecurity in preschool children in Somerset 

Aim: To delve into both the impacts and what can be done to prevent and alleviate food insecurity within the rural landscape using systematic review and intervention design methods.   

Funders: UoB PGR Scholarship: NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) /Somerset County Council

Dates: April 2023- April 2027

Investigators: Cat Holt (student); Prof Ruth Kipping (Bristol University), Dr Alice Porter (Bristol University), Dr Nicola Heslehurst (Newcastle University) (supervisors)

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=453155

1)     Supporting Pregnancy fOOd and Nutrition Security (SPOONS) in Denmark’s most marginalized neighbourhoods (Short title=SPOONS in Denmark)

2)     Supporting Pregnancy fOOd and Nutrition Security (SPOONS): A comparative social epidemiology of pregnancy food insecurity across community samples from three middle- and high- income countries with diverse policy conditions (Canada, Denmark, Mexico) (Short title=SPOONS International)

Aims: To explore relationships between health indicators, socio-political conditions, diet quality, and food security status among parents-to-be and parents of infants and toddlers; to identify and develop bottom-up, community-based strategies for mitigating household food insecurity for families experiencing vulnerability during the first 1000 days post-conception

Funders: The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 754513; The Aarhus University Research Foundation

Dates:

SPOONS in Denmark’s most marginalized neighbourhoods: Aug 2021-Jan 2024

SPOONS International: March 2024-Aug 2025

Investigators: PI: Luseadra McKerracher (student co-investigators, SPOONS in Denmark: Gali Ibrahim, Hamda Waberi, Hamdi Egal, James Gibb; student assistants, SPOONS in Denmark: Julia Labriciossa, Katherine Taplin, Christopher Jensen); co-PIs on SPOONS International: Hiliary Monteith, Tracey Galloway, Deborah M Sloboda, Alejandra Nuñez de la Mora

https://spoonsskeer.wixsite.com/my-site

https://osf.io/y3mb2/