Food insecurity and health in the first 1,001 days

粮食不安全是一个复杂的社会问题，影响着我国人口中最脆弱的群体。这是当一个人难以负担或获得足够的食物时。在英国，每4个有孩子的家庭中就有1个受到影响，如果有3个或更多孩子或来自少数族裔群体或残疾个人的家庭受到影响，几乎每2个家庭中就有1个受到影响。这意味着他们不吃饭，饿的时候没有吃东西，或者一整天都没有吃东西。FI会影响他们吃的食物的类型和数量，以及他们的身心健康。由于目前的生活成本危机，预计英国的FI将会增加。FI的经历可能在家庭内部分布不均，女性比男性受到的影响更大。女性往往是食品经理，背负着在食品预算之间权衡的心理健康负担，以获得足够的健康食品，而且经常跳过食品，以确保家里的其他人得到食物。这是一个令人担忧的问题，因为妇女由于其月经周期、怀孕和哺乳而有复杂的营养需求。在怀孕期间，妇女吃的食物对她们自己和她们的孩子的健康都很重要。例如，一些维生素和矿物质对婴儿的发育是必不可少的。然而，美国的研究表明，当女性怀孕时，这些需求很少得到满足，这增加了孕妇(如患抑郁症)和婴儿(如过早出生)的风险。因此，FI可以对妇女及其子女的健康产生终生影响。它还增加了产妇服务、更广泛的医疗服务和社会的成本。目前，在英国，人们对怀孕期间和怀孕后的FI知之甚少。关于FI的研究不包括孕妇或最近生过孩子的妇女的经历，尽管人们认识到，让每个孩子有一个最好的人生开端对于减少健康不平等至关重要。该奖学金旨在探索妇女在怀孕期间和怀孕后，特别是在生命的头1,001天的FI和健康。该奖学金将包括以下目标：(1)在兰贝斯理事会安排一个职位，以加强研究人员和政策制定者之间的知识交流，帮助我接触FI妇女，并增加这一奖学金的影响。(2)通过发表我博士研究的三篇论文，为有限的FI证据做出贡献。(3)开展一项研究，探索妇女在孕前和孕期的FI经历。(4)与一群多族裔的非裔妇女一起举办创意工作坊，共同制作一本杂志或漫画，描绘她们日常的非裔妇女经历，与主要利益攸关方分享。(5)除了参加培训课程以建立我的科研技能外，还将出席并在国家会议上介绍我的博士和研究员研究。(6)制定一个更大的工作计划，以确定怀孕期间和怀孕后妇女的FI，并创建一条支持妇女和减轻FI影响的途径。这项奖学金将使我能够在怀孕期间和之后对妇女的FI进行一项新的研究，同时使我能够在我的研究技能的基础上发展我的研究技能，帮助我成为未来妇女健康领域的领导者。

Food insecurity (FI) is a complex social issue affecting the most vulnerable in our population. It is when an individual struggles to afford or access enough food. In the UK, 1 in 4 UK households with children are affected, and almost 1 in 2 if households are affected if they have 3 or more children or individuals from minoritised ethnic groups or individuals with disabilities. This means they have skipped meals, have not eaten when hungry, or have not eaten for one full day. FI can affect the type and amount of food they eat, and their physical and mental health. FI is expected to increase in the UK due to the current cost-of-living crisis. Experiences of FI may be unevenly distributed within households, with women more affected than men. Women tend to be food managers, carry the mental health burden from juggling food budgets to access sufficient healthy food, and often skip food to ensure others in their household are fed. This is a concern as women have complex nutritional requirements due to their menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. During pregnancy, the food women eat is important for both their own and their baby's health. For example, some vitamins and minerals are essential for the baby's development. However, research from the USA shows these needs are rarely met when women are FI, which increases the risks to the pregnant woman (such as developing depression) and to the baby (such as being born too early). Thus, FI can have lifelong effects for the health of women and their children. It also increases the costs to maternity services, wider health services, and society. Currently, little is known about FI during and after pregnancy in the UK. Research on FI does not include the experiences of pregnant women or women who have recently had a baby, despite recognition that giving every child the best start in life is crucial to reducing health inequalities. This fellowship aims to explore FI and health of women during and after pregnancy, specifically in the first 1,001 days of life. The fellowship will include the following objectives:(1) To undertake a placement with Lambeth Council to strengthen knowledge-exchange between researchers and policymakers, help me access FI women and increase the impact of this fellowship.(2) To contribute to the limited evidence on FI by publishing three papers from my doctoral research. (3) To conduct a study to explore women's experience of FI before and during pregnancy. (4) To run creative workshops with a group of multi-ethnic FI women to co-produce a zine or comic portraying their everyday experiences of FI to share with key stakeholders. (5) To attend and present my doctoral and fellowship research at national conferences in addition to attending training courses to build my scientific research skills.(6) To develop a larger programme of work which will identify FI in women during and after pregnancy and create a pathway to support women and mitigate the impact of FI.This fellowship will allow me to conduct a new piece of research on FI in women during and after pregnancy while allowing me to develop build on my research skills to help me become a future leader in women's health.