Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Thank you for your query on the Healthy Start Campaign in the UK whereby the NHS provides advice and guidance during pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. Vouchers are available for pregnant women and young children for food groups such as fruit & vegetables and milk.

In Ireland, the vision in “Healthy Ireland- a framework for health and wellbeing”, is for everyone to enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their full potential, where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society and is everyone’s responsibility. The framework adopts a life- course approach to promoting health and wellbeing for everyone. Under the auspice of the Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2015- 2025 and the First 5 strategy, many integrated, cross-sectoral and high-quality supports and services for an effective early childhood system have been developed.

Set out below are a number of relevant resources, initiatives and supports:

- Healthy Ireland with First 5 has published guidelines for parents of young children. “Healthy Eating for 1 to 4 Year Olds” includes the Children’s Food Pyramid which can help parents decide which and how much of each food they should offer their child.

-START is the public health campaign from Safefood, the Departments of Health in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Healthy Ireland, the Health Service Executive and the Public Health Agency. The START campaign aims to support families to take small steps to eating healthier food and becoming more active. This campaign and a wide range of resources can be accessed on the Safefood website.

-The recently published Nutrition Standards for Early Learning and Care Services and implementation plan for early years educators and aim is to inform the development and implementation of Healthy Eating Policy and Practice in Early Learning and Care Services.

-Like the Healthy Start UK campaign, the mychild.ie website provides information to parents-to-be and parents of young children on a range of topics with a significant focus on infant feeding.

-The Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme (SHCP), led by Healthy Ireland in the Department of Health, in partnership with cross-sectoral, national and local stakeholders, aims to address health inequalities and improve health and well-being. Nineteen community food and nutrition workers have been recruited to build capacity, knowledge and skills across SHCP communities. They are tasked with working with local statutory and voluntary partners to improve the food environment and address food poverty and activate agreed national campaigns.

-The Hot School Meals Programme, funded by the Department of Social Protection, aims to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The Programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. The Department of Social Protection is continuing to expand the School Meals Programme. The Nutrition Standards for Hot School Meals were established by Healthy Ireland and are designed to guide school meals suppliers in creating suitable menu options to meet healthy eating guidelines (FSAI 2016) for children in primary school.

-The School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme (Food Dudes, Ireland) promotes science-based healthy eating by encouraging primary school children to increase fruit and vegetables intake. In 2017, the School Milk Scheme merged with the School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme (Food Dudes) and offers participating schools access to 250ml of milk per day, free-of-charge for children up to 18 years of age and is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Marine.

Difficulty in meeting food costs and other regular ongoing needs may result from a family encountering exceptional expenditure. In this regard, Additional Needs Payments as part of the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, may be provided for people who have essential expenses, which they cannot meet from their own resources.

Any person who considers that they may have an entitlement to an Additional Needs Payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service. There is a National Community Welfare Contact Centre in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office. In addition, applications can be made online via MyWelfare.ie.

In summary, I have referred to a range of multi- sectoral initiatives that this Department collaborates on across Government to promote health and well-being in young children. Any future fiscal measures to support healthy eating in the young is a matter for the Department of Finance.