A new report by Co-op and Barnardo’s has laid bare the significant challenges that children and young people face in finding and affording nutritious food outside of traditional home or school environments.
Published by Co-op and children’s charity Barnardo’s, and co-designed by a team of young people, more than 45,000 young people aged 9-25 were consulted through focus groups, surveys, and classroom consultations.
Polling conducted by VotesforSchools revealed that nearly a quarter of secondary- and college-aged students (23%) find it hard to access healthy food choices in their community, as cost of living challenges impact their traditional routes to food such as home or school.
The location of food shops, lack of ethical options, and a perceived hostility towards young people in community spaces were repeatedly cited as barriers to access. Young people pointed to the affordability of nutritious food as a significant barrier, echoing prior Co-op and Barnardo’s research which found that 35% of young people live in homes which are struggling, or have struggled, to pay for or access food.
The report, ‘A Recipe for Success: How do children and young people want to access food in their communities‘, highlights that food insecurity is highest in families where the head of the household is aged 16-24 – with 2 in 10 younger households classed as ‘food insecure’, compared to 1 in 10 of households for all ages.(3) A staggering three-quarters (79%) of Co-op members aged 16-25 confessed to having skipped a meal due to money being tight, with one young Co-op member saying: “As a young adult with a child, I’ve had to skip so many meals just to make sure my daughter is fed.”