Publications
Research papers
Waberi, H., Ehlert, C., Ibrahim, G., Egal, H., & McKerracher, L. (2025). Food (in) Security and Peripartum Health in Marginalised Neighbourhoods in Denmark: Intersectional and Biopsychosocial Perspectives From Birthing Parents and Care Workers. Sociology of Health & Illness, 47(7), e70070. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.70070
Oresnik, S., Moffat, T., McKerracher, L., & Sloboda, D. M. (2025). A syndemic perspective on food insecurity, gestational diabetes, and mental health disorders during pregnancy. Social Science & Medicine, 373, 117994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117994
Gibb, J. K., Williams, S., Mikelsteins, K., Charles, J., McKinnon, L., Beach, L., McKerracher, L. & Fields, J. (2024). Queering food security research: A critical analysis of 2SLGBTQ+ People's experiences of food insecurity in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Science & Medicine, 345, 116709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116709
Nguyen, G., Bell, Z., Andreae, G., Scott, S., Sermin‐Reed, L., Lake, A. A., & Heslehurst, N. (2024). Food insecurity during pregnancy in high‐income countries, and maternal weight and diet: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity Reviews, 25(7), e13753. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13753
Rosen, F., Settel, L., Irvine, F., Koselka, E. P., Miller, J. D., & Young, S. L. (2023). Associations between food insecurity and child and parental physical, nutritional, psychosocial and economic well‐being globally during the first 1000 days: A scoping review. Maternal & child nutrition, 20(1), e13574. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13574
Merchant, T., Soyemi, E., Roytman, M. V., DiTosto, J. D., Beestrum, M., Niznik, C. M., & Yee, L. M. (2023). Healthcare-based interventions to address food insecurity during pregnancy: a systematic review. American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM, 5(5), 100884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajogmf.2023.100884
Bell, Z., Scott, S., Visram, S., Rankin, J., Bambra, C., & Heslehurst, N. (2023). Children’s nutritional health and wellbeing in food insecure households in Europe: A qualitative meta-ethnography. Plos one, 18(9), e0292178. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292178
Bell, Z., Scott, S., Visram, S., Rankin, J., Bambra, C., & Heslehurst, N. (2022). Experiences and perceptions of nutritional health and wellbeing amongst food insecure women in Europe: A qualitative meta-ethnography. Social science & medicine, 311, 115313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115313
Salmon, L. (2015). Food security for infants and young children: an opportunity for breastfeeding policy?. International breastfeeding journal, 10(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-015-0029-6
Protocols
McKay, F. H., Vo, M., George, N. A., John, P., Kaushal, J., & van der Pligt, P. (2025). Cross-cultural food practices and nutrition seeking behaviors among pregnant and postpartum Indian women living in Australia. Health Care for Women International, 46(1), 6-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2024.2303518
Vasilevski, V., Graham, K., McKay, F., Dunn, M., Wright, M., Radelaar, E., ... & Sweet, L. (2024). Barriers and enablers to antenatal care attendance for women referred to social work services in a Victorian regional hospital: A qualitative descriptive study. Women and Birth, 37(2), 443-450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2024.01.006
McKay, F. H., Zinga, J., & van Der Pligt, P. (2024). Could commercial meal kits be part of the solution to food insecurity during pregnancy? An Australian exploratory study. Nutrition & Dietetics, 81(2), 228-236. https://doi.org/10.1111/1747-0080.12845
Dickson, A., McKay, F., Zinga, J., & van der Pligt, P. (2024). Antenatal healthcare providers' knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding food insecurity in pregnancy: A qualitative investigation based at a specialist antenatal hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 37(1), 94-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.13233
Zinga, J., Van Der Pligt, P., Lindberg, R., Vasilevski, V., Lee, A., & McKay, F. (2024). Food insecurity screening procedures used in reproductive healthcare settings. Nutrition Reviews, 82(1), 76-89. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuad039
McKay, F. H., Zinga, J., & van der Pligt, P. (2022). Screening food insecure during pregnancy: pilot testing an effective brief tool for use in an Australian antenatal care setting. Nutrients, 14(21), 4633. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214633
McKay, F. H., Zinga, J., & Van Der Pligt, P. (2022). Consensus from an expert panel on how to identify and support food insecurity during pregnancy: A modified Delphi study. BMC health services research, 22(1), 1231. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08587-x
McKay, F. H., Spiteri, S., Zinga, J., Sulemani, K., Jacobs, S. E., Ranjan, N., ... & van der Pligt, P. (2022). Systematic review of interventions addressing food insecurity in pregnant women and new mothers. Current nutrition reports, 11(3), 486-499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-022-00418-z
Zinga, J., McKay, F. H., Lindberg, R., & van der Pligt, P. (2022). Experiences of food-insecure pregnant women and factors influencing their food choices. Maternal and child health journal, 26(7), 1434-1441. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-022-03440-3
Bell, Z., Scott, S., Visram, S., Rankin, J., Bambra, C., & Heslehurst, N. (2021). Food insecurity and the nutritional health and well-being of women and children in high-income countries: protocol for a qualitative systematic review. BMJ open, 11(8), e048180. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048180
McKerracher, L. J., Labricciosa, J., & Taplin, K. (2021). Stable Housing and Food Security during Pregnancy in Wealthy Democracies: A systematic Review Protocol. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Y3MB2
Published conference abstracts
Bell, Z., Nguyen, G., Andreae, G., Scott, S., Sermin-Reed, L., Lake, A. A., & Heslehurst, N. (2024). Associations between food insecurity in high-income countries and pregnancy outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 21(9), e1004450. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004450
Andreae, G., Scott, S., Nguyen, G., Bell, Z., Mehmood, H., Sermin-Reed, L., & Heslehurst, N. (2022). Food insecurity among pregnant women living in high-income countries: a systematic review. The Lancet, 400, S17. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02227-9
Wigman, I., Visram, S., Bell, Z., & Heslehurst, N. (2022). UK news media portrayal of mothers living in food insecurity since the 2008 global financial crisis: a mixed-methods news media analysis. The Lancet, 400, S46. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02256-5
Nguyen, G., Aucott, L., McNeill, G., & Douglas, F. (2017). Identifying a potential tool to measure household food insecurity in the UK: A systematic review. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(OCE4), E184. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665117003469
Dissertations and theses
Bell, Z. (2023). “It ripples through, it's like a dropping stone into a pond… the ripple effect is huge”: Food insecurity and health: Insights from women, children, and frontline workers (Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University). http://hdl.handle.net/10443/5844
Books
Frank, L. (2015). Out of milk: Infant food insecurity in a rich nation. UBC Press.
Policy and Other Publications
Bryant, M., et al. (2025) Hungry for Change: Tackling Obesity and Food Insecurity in the North of England: A report prepared for the Child of the North All-Party Parliamentary Group. https://www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/app/uploads/COTN-APPG-2025-EMBARGOED.pdf
