Food Insecurity: The Reality

Helping families with food insecurity

Food insecurity means not having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious food to support a healthy and active life. It happens when people are unsure where their next meal will come from or cannot afford a nutritious diet
 
The latest Food Foundation Food Insecurity Tracker, based on a YouGov survey of 6,055 UK adults conducted between 23 January and 3 February 2026, found that:
 
• More than 6 million adults (around 12% of UK households) experienced food insecurity.
• Around 2.1 million children were living in households experiencing food insecurity.
• 3.5% of households have not eaten for a whole day
• Single-adult households with children were more than twice as likely to experience food insecurity as households without children.

Why does food insecurity matter?

The consequences of food insecurity extend far beyond hunger, affecting physical health, mental wellbeing, educational attainment, and quality of life across the lifespan.
 
For adults, poor diet is a major contributor to the striking inequalities in health across the UK. People living in the most deprived communities spend around 20 fewer years in good health than those living in the most affluent areas (approximately 50 years compared with 70 years of healthy life expectancy).

For children, inadequate access to nutritious food can have lifelong consequences. Poor nutrition during childhood can impair cognitive and behavioural development, restrict healthy growth, compromise bone and dental health, weaken the immune system, and reduce educational achievement. Many of these effects are difficult, or impossible, to fully reverse later in life.

A challenge we must address:

No one should have to choose between heating their home and feeding their family or worry about where their next meal will come from. Addressing food insecurity requires coordinated action across communities, government, charities, healthcare, education, and the food system. By working together, we can help ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food and the opportunity to live a healthy life.

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Written by Professor Anne Marie Minihane, Head of Nutrition and Preventive Medicine, UEA & Director EatSocial Norfolk C.I.C.