Lancet
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An estimated 5 million people in the UK are food insecure; with women and children being the most affected. Food insecurity is particularly concerning for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and young children, who have high nutrient requirements. News media can shape public perceptions, is powerful at framing health issues, and in creating public demand and support for health policy. We aimed to explore how UK newspapers portrayed food insecure pregnant women or mothers of children aged up to 1001 days (hereon called mothers). ⋯ None.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people experiencing homelessness in multiple ways. The Everyone In initiative during 2020 was initially transformative in providing short-term accommodation for this group but was accompanied by major disruptions to treatment and support services. Understanding how these changes have affected health needs of people experiencing homelessness in the inner-city London Borough of Tower Hamlets can inform future service commissioning. ⋯ None.
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Review
Preconception health and care policies and guidelines in the UK and Ireland: a scoping review.
Preconception health and care strategies can substantially improve maternal and infant outcomes, and thus optimise intergenerational health. Given the burden of high-risk preconception health and social risk factors, as well as the absence of a review of preconception health and care policies and recommendations in the UK and Ireland since 2013, an update is now warranted. We undertook a scoping review to assess the nature of and summarise preconception health and care strategies, policies, guidelines, frameworks, and recommendations available in the UK and Ireland. ⋯ Department for the Economy Northern Ireland, and National Institute for Health and Social Care Research Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20004).
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A Free School Meals (FSM) policy is a well recognised intervention for tackling food insecurity among children (up to the age 18 years) whose parents receive state benefits. National school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the need to rapidly adapt the delivery of FSM to protect the most disadvantaged children in the UK from increased food insecurity. A range of food assistance policies were implemented, but whether they were evidence-based is unclear. The aim of study was to establish the transparency of evidence use behind FSM policy decisions in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify other factors influencing decision making. ⋯ Newton's Apple (registered charity number 1121719). The authors are funded by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research's School for Public Health Research. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health and Care Research or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Midwives' survey of weight management practices before and after implementation of the GLOWING guideline: a pilot, cluster, randomised controlled trial.
Maternal weight management increases risks for women and babies and is a public health priority. Interventions can substantially improve maternal diet and physical activity behaviours and pregnancy outcomes. Low self-efficacy is a core barrier to midwives' implementation of guidelines. GLOWING used social cognitive theory to address evidence-based barriers to practice, aiming to support midwives' guidelines implementation. ⋯ National Institute for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship (reference PDF-2011-04-034).