Labour calls for action on malnutrition

Roxanna Twidle said it was not always easy to eat healthily on a low income

Opposition politicians are calling for action in a rural county identified as having the highest malnutrition rate in the country.

Norfolk County Council's Labour group wants a new policy and targets to tackle the problem.

Mike Smith-Clare, deputy group leader, said: "Malnutrition affects lives; it’s destroying opportunities."

The Conservative-controlled council has defended its work on malnutrition, saying it was investing more than £45m in public health grants to help people "live the healthiest lives they can".

'We're seeing an incredible increase'

A report by Future Health found one in 15 people in Norfolk and Waveney were affected by malnutrition.

Labour wants the council to provide more financial support for community groups that feed people in poverty.

Its councillors have tabled a motion at the next full meeting of the county council, calling on the authority to "recognise malnutrition as a serious public health issue".

They want rates of malnutrition to be measured as an indicator of its performance.

They are also demanding the council sets and meets targets for the "elimination of poverty-related malnutrition."

Mr Smith-Clare said: "We’re seeing an incredible increase in people suffering from illnesses, in many cases, that you would have expected to have died out 100, 200 years ago.

"If you look at young people, for example, if a child is going to school [and] they’re malnourished, they’re not going to succeed in education; that means they’re not going to have the best opportunity to succeed in life.

"We’ve got to identify this as a priority and, more importantly, do something about it.

Paul Hubbard, a Pathway volunteer, said extreme thinness and a pale complexion were signs of malnutrition

Pathway, a cafe and support centre, provides hot meals three times a week at Minster Mission, Great Yarmouth, to anyone in need.

Paul Hubbard, a volunteer at the centre in Admiralty Road, said: "It's quite clear in Yarmouth with the poverty, there are a lot of people in the town who do value us because we do provide nutritional meals."

He said he could spot some of the signs of malnutrition as people walked through the door if "they're very thin [or] if they're looking very pale."

One visitor during last Friday's session said: "There's very nutritious food down here; they do a variety. When I'm struggling for money, I come down here.

"I probably don't eat as healthily as I should do but I come here to get the fruit and stuff."

Roxanna Twidle, 50, who also attended, said: "It's easy to buy cheap food like chocolate and stuff but, if you want a healthy diet, it's not always easy to eat healthily."

Michael Lucas believes any action by the council might be short-lived

Michael Lucas, 59, said he was not sure that, even if the council accepted the motion, anything would happen.

"They say they'll do it until the next election's over. Anyone can access food; there's enough cheap shops around," he said.