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The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

Hand to mouth: Britain's food poverty crisis

NHS figures show that, between 2022-2023, more than 800,000 patients were admitted to hospital with malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies. With the cost of groceries soaring, we look at the rise of food poverty and the impact it's having on our health and happiness

27 December 2023

  • 28/06/2023. London. Thurrock Food Banks. Trussell Trust. Food being delivered to the 10 diferent distribution centres in Thurrock. h Derek Staton picking up food from supermarkets and local shops and churchs donated by customers when shopping . Photo Sean Smith

    Britain’s hunger and malnutrition crisis could be easily solved – yet politicians choose not to

    Michael Marmot
    We have more than enough to go round, but large proportions of the population lack the basic necessities of life, says Michael Marmot of UCL
  • Smiling mother feeding her newborn baby girl with bottle at home

    Failure to stem rising cost of formula in UK putting babies at risk, say experts

    Leading doctors and charities urge children’s health minister to take action to support struggling families
  • Paddy and Carol Henderson at a foodbank

    How the Trussell Trust grew from a garden shed to 1,300 food banks

    The trust, which ran one of England’s first food banks from a shed in Salisbury, distributed 3m food parcels last year

26 December 2023

  • A person seem from the waist down carrying two grocery bags

    ‘Our food bills are off the scale’: how high costs affect people in England with special dietary needs

  • A free-from range in a UK supermarket

    ‘Free-from’ food increasingly unaffordable in UK, experts warn

25 December 2023

  • An eaten microwave ready meal

    England heads for obesity disaster as minister frets about nanny state

  • Children take snacks from a bowl

    Health of England’s children at risk from policy inaction on obesity, report finds

22 December 2023

  • Two security people watch CCTV screens

    Britons increasingly turning to food black market, experts say

    Exclusive: Goods such as meat, cheese and confectionery stolen in large amounts to be sold to people hit by high cost of living
  • A woman steals a bottle of wine in a supermarket

    ‘That’s how we’ve got to live’: the black market in England’s shoplifting capital

    In Leeds, a rough-sleeping member of a team of thieves claims to be acting out of necessity. Some of his customers also say they don’t know where their next meal is coming from
  • opener

    The Food Diaries: how people are navigating the UK’s cost of living crisis

    Four – very different – people tell us about how they manage their money to feed themselves and their households

21 December 2023

  • Close-up of young pupil eating a buttered bagel

    ‘Children have bowed legs’: hunger worse than ever, says Norwich school

    Headteacher in one of England’s most deprived areas says cost of living crisis is having acute effect on pupils’ health
  • Young girl eating chicken nuggets and pizza

    Overfed and undernourished: what is malnutrition and nutrient deficiency?

    NHS data shows threefold increase in diagnoses linked to poor diet in past decade
  • A blood sample being held with a row of human samples for analytical testing

    Surge in number of people in hospital with nutrient deficiencies, NHS figures show

    Exclusive: number of people in England and Wales admitted to hospital with deficiencies triples in 10 years
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