Should infant formula be available at UK food banks? Evaluating different pathways to ensuring parents in financial crisis can access infant formula.

生活费用危机加剧了粮食不安全，给有婴儿和幼儿的家庭带来了压力。在这种情况下，婴儿配方奶粉的高成本和供应问题意味着配方奶粉喂养的婴儿越来越脆弱。食物银行为那些经历经济危机的人提供了重要的帮助。不过，目前的指导方针是不允许捐赠婴儿配方奶粉。这是为了保护婴儿免受伤害，并确保母乳喂养不受影响。由于产品成本高，捐赠可能不一致，可能包括不适合婴儿的牛奶。允许捐赠婴儿配方奶粉可能会导致婴儿配方奶粉公司将此视为促销机会，利用父母在压力时期的优势。相反，建议将有需要的家庭引导到他们的保健视察员那里，以获得一揽子支助，包括获得配方奶粉的额外支助。考虑到婴儿喂养对健康的影响，以及非母乳喂养的婴儿必须在12个月大之前喝配方奶，这个问题被认为太重要了，不能依赖于捐赠。帮助家庭的更合适的选择可能包括现金优先的办法或对健康起步计划的进一步补贴，这些补贴可用于购买配方奶粉。然而，最近的媒体文章认为，这种立场是不公平的，是对依赖婴儿配方奶粉的家庭的歧视。支持者批评需要通过健康专业人士寻求进一步的支持，认为这会导致延迟，并对婴儿造成伤害。再加上对婴儿喂养支持不足的看法，这可能会增加在面临重大压力时出现精神健康问题的风险。这造成了一个明显的公共卫生困境。虽然食物银行的指导有明确的理由，但研究并没有探讨这个问题的广度和影响。因此，我们研究的目的是探索受此指导影响的一系列关键群体的观点，包括低收入和/或访问食品银行的父母，卫生专业人员，第三部门和慈善组织以及食品银行共同开发干预措施以测试未来的供应。通过调查和访谈，我们将探讨：在多大程度上需要和希望通过英国食品银行捐赠配方奶粉？谁要求提供配方奶粉，在什么情况下，提供或不提供配方奶粉的影响是什么？目前生活在贫困或危机中的家庭如何获得配方奶粉？当前这些进程有多明显、透明、可接受和公平？潜在的新模式是什么？它们会是什么样子？这些不同模式提供配方奶的潜在风险和益处是什么，包括安全性、一致性、公平性、母乳喂养保护和对父母心理健康的影响？将这些发现结合起来，我们将邀请家长、专业人士和组织参加研讨会，考虑为有需要的家庭提供配方奶的不同方法的影响，包括风险和好处，例如通过食物银行、卫生专业人员转诊或现金优先方法/健康起点津贴的增加。我们将共同制定一项首选干预措施，然后设法测试其对婴儿配方奶粉获取、父母心理健康和婴儿安全喂养做法的影响。

The cost-of-living crisis is increasing food insecurity, causing stress particularly for families with babies and young children. Within this, high infant formula costs and supply issues mean that formula fed babies are increasingly vulnerable.Foodbanks offer important help for those experiencing financial insecurity or crisis. However, at present, guidance is to not allow donations of infant formula milk. This is in place to protect babies from harm and ensure that breastfeeding is not undermined. Donations are likely to be inconsistent due to high product cost and may include milks unsuitable for young babies. Allowing donations of infant formula is likely to lead to infant formula companies seeing this as a promotional opportunity, taking advantage of parents at a stressful time. Instead, it is recommended that families in need are directed to their health visitor, to receive a package of support including additional support to access formula.Given the health implications of infant feeding, and that infants who are not breastfed must receive formula milk until they are 12 months old, the issue is seen as too important to be dependent on donations. More suitable options to help families may include a cash first approach or further allowances to the Healthy Start scheme which can be used to purchase formula. However, recent media articles argue that this stance is unequitable and discriminatory against families who rely on infant formula. Proponents criticise the need to seek further support via a health professional, arguing that this causes delay and places babies at harm. Together with perceptions of poor infant feeding support this can increase risk of mental health difficulties at a time of significant stress.This presents a clear public health dilemma. Although the food bank guidance has a clear rationale, research has not explored the breadth and impact of this issue. The aim of our research is therefore to explore the perspectives of a range of key groups affected by this guidance including parents on a low income and/or who have accessed food banks, health professionals, third sector and charity organisations and food banks to co-develop an intervention to test for future provision. Using surveys and interviews we will explore:To what extent is there a need and desire for donations of formula milk to be allowed via UK food banks? Who has asked for formula, in what context and what is the impact of supplying or not supplying formula?How do families living in poverty or those in crisis currently access formula milk? How visible, transparent, acceptable and equitable are these current processes?What are the potential new models and what might those look like?What are the potential risks and benefits for these different models to provide formula including safety, consistency, equity, protection of breastfeeding and impact upon parental mental health?Bringing these findings together we will invite parents, professionals and organisations to workshops to consider what the impacts, including risks and benefits of different approaches to accessing formula milk for families in need could be, such as via food banks, health professional referral or cash first approaches / Healthy Start allowance increases.Together we will develop a preferred intervention and then seek to test its impact upon access to infant formula, parental mental health and safe infant feeding practices.