Survey results show families face multiple barriers to feeding under-5s a healthy diet

New survey results show families face multiple barriers to feeding their young children a healthy diet, reports our Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer Tilda Ferree

Children's early years are a critical time for laying the foundations for healthy eating habits and lifelong health. However, they are also a period when many families are under acute financial and time pressure, brought on by factors such as inadequate parental leave and pay and additional childcare costs and demands.

The Food Foundation’s latest food insecurity survey⁽ⁱ⁾ found that 15.3% of households with children reported experiencing food insecurity in January 2026, compared to 10.9% for households without children.⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ Food insecurity means having to have smaller meals or skipping meals, not eating when hungry, or having to go a whole day without eating because of being unable to access or afford enough food at any point in the past month.

The health impacts of food insecurity 

Food insecurity impacts on nutrition, with the survey finding food insecure households reporting cutting back on purchases of fruit (53.1%), vegetables (39.9%) which could in turn impact on the diets of young children and contribute to some of the inequalities in consumption.⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ 

This is likely to have negative consequences for health inequalities, with children from the most deprived fifth of the population nearly twice as likely to be living with obesity by their first year of school than children from the least deprived fifth.

Children in the most deprived fifth of the population are also more than twice as likely to have tooth decay in their permanent teeth compared to those in the least deprived by their last year of primary school.

The barriers to good nutrition in the early years

Ensuring children are eating a healthy diet in their earliest years can be challenging, particularly for low-income families who face additional barriers in affording and accessing healthy food. In our latest survey, only around one in six (16%) of families with a child aged one to four did not face any barriers to feeding their children what they would like.⁽ⁱ⁾

After child preferences, food prices and lack of time for preparation were reported as the biggest barriers parents and carers face when preparing the meals they would like for their children. Less than half (40%) said they were able to feed their child(ren) the types of food and an overall diet that they would prefer or ideally like all the time.⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

What support do families need?

When asked what support would help them to feed their child the types of food they would like to, having more affordable options available was the most commonly selected option amongst parents of children aged 1-4 (32%).⁽ⁱ⁾

Healthy Start is a critical scheme available to help low-income families access a healthy diet in the early years. Targeted at pregnant women and families with children under four on a low income, the scheme provides weekly payments to buy fruit, vegetables, cow’s milk and first infant formula. However, the scheme is currently failing to meet its potential, only reaching a small pool of families, and with payments failing to keep up with food price inflation. This latest survey found that over 70% of respondents would support expanding eligibility to include children aged four (74% support); increasing the payment amounts to ensure it keeps in line with food inflation (72%) and automatically registering all eligible families onto the Healthy Start scheme (71%)⁽ⁱ⁾ Expanding the scheme to all families in receipt of Universal Credit would bring it in line with Free School Meal eligibility and ensure that more children living in poverty benefitted.

Free Early Years Meals are another Government scheme that could be improved to strengthen the nutritional safety net for children in these critical early developmental stages. Entitlement to Free School Meals and Early Years Meals is expanding to include all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from 2026. However, in Early Years settings, fewer than 4% of children in formal childcare will receive a free meal (compared to 30% in schools) despite the eligibility expansion, equivalent to nearly 300,000 children missing out (Bremner & Co., 2025). This is due to additional conditions attached to eligibility, including that free meal eligibility only applies to a state-maintained setting, which excludes private nurseries, pre-schools and childminders, and children must attend before and after lunch to qualify.

Regulation of the promotion and marketing of unhealthy foods directed at young children: this latest survey found that around a fifth (19%) of parents said that a reduction in the promotion and marketing of unhealthy foods directed at young children would help them to provide their child with the meals they would like.⁽ⁱ⁾ Whilst it is positive to see the Government introduce voluntary commercial baby food and drink guidelines in August 2025, it is critical that they promptly evaluate industry compliance once the 18-month deadline (February 2027) for implementation has passed. Future standards should be mandatory to ensure that commercial foods and drinks for infants and young children are appropriate for the age groups they are marketed and that any marketing, labelling or packaging, does not include health and nutrition claims. 

• To find out more about policy recommendations to improve access to healthy diets in the early years, see: Read policy recommendations from across the series

⁽ⁱ⁾ This survey was conducted by YouGov Plc. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 6055 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23rd January - 3rd February 2026.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all 
UK adults (aged 18+).

⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ Based on the above YouGov survey results, independently analysed for the Food Foundation. We asked three questions to assess whether people were food insecure. If they answered yes to any of these three questions based on the last month (January 2026), they are classified as food insecure:
Have you/anyone else in your household:
1.  had smaller meals than usual or skip meals because you couldn't afford or get access to food?
2.  ever been hungry but not eaten because you couldn't afford or get access to food?
3.  not eaten for a whole day because you couldn't afford or get access to food?
These questions are part of the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Security Survey module. This is a validated survey tool, used to measure and monitor household food insecurity in many high-income countries, including the UK. These questions capture moderate and severe experiences of food insecurity. For more details see: Food Insecurity Tracking | Food Foundation