First Steps Nutrition Trust

YouTube video by ITV News In Full Sikh community calls for help after reports of racially aggravated attacks | ITV News Central (West)

Yesterday @itvnews.bsky.social reported how extortionate formula costs are putting babies at risk.

@jessbrownfullermp.bsky.social urged the UK govt to implement the @cmagovuk.bsky.social's recommendations to make the formula market fairer.

Doing so will also protect breastfeeding.

bit.ly/48TOxfG

YouTube video by ITV News In Full Sikh community calls for help after reports of racially aggravated attacks | ITV News Central (West)

Listen from 9.45 for a feature on the harm being caused by DHSC inaction on high infant formula prices m.youtube.com/watch?v=GaMk... @jessbrownfullermp.bsky.social

It’s hard to believe this is the UK in 2025

Want to know what we got up to last month? 🍐 Tami, an MSc. student from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has joined our team as a nutrition intern. She will support our social media… |... Want to know what we got up to last month? 🍐 Tami, an MSc. student from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has joined our team as a nutrition intern. She will support our social media co...

www.linkedin.com/posts/first-...

Every month that passes without a government response to the inappropriate marketing of infant formula is another missed opportunity to protect babies' health and families from profit greed.

Nearly 300,000 disadvantaged young children set to miss out on free meals Exclusive: Experts warns Labour’s free school meal expansion will skip over a key cohort of disadvantaged children

📢 Around 290,000 children aged under five are due to miss out on the government's upcoming Free School Meals expansion unless nurseries and childcare settings are included!

Read about Bremner & Co report findings in today's
@the-independent.com ⬇️

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Experts call on Government to tackle 'greedy' baby formula companies Parents face 'unjustifiably high' costs to feed their babies because the Government has failed to crack down on profiteering by formula companies, medical experts warned today.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

The BMJ on X: "Baby feeding charities and experts have called on the government to urgently publish its response to recommendations for tackling the high price of infant formula made by the UK’s competition regulator in February https://t.co/xfbfk9Slvy" / X Baby feeding charities and experts have called on the government to urgently publish its response to recommendations for tackling the high price of infant formula made by the UK’s competition regulator in February https://t.co/xfbfk9Slvy

x.com/bmj_latest/s...

The Telegraph on X: "🍼 Manufacturers have kept profit margins of 50 to 75 per cent on infant formula, compared with less than 5 per cent on most groceries https://t.co/VnCeNHamY4" / X 🍼 Manufacturers have kept profit margins of 50 to 75 per cent on infant formula, compared with less than 5 per cent on most groceries https://t.co/VnCeNHamY4

x.com/telegraph/st...

See our Good Food Choices and Portion Sizes for 1-under five year olds here: firststepsnutrition.company.site/Good-Food-Ch...

Sweet potato stew (page 42)

🍈 This is a hearty vegetarian autumn dish which includes beans and canned tomatoes. Many of the ingredients can be found all year round in low-cost canned forms.

Here are two recipes that are good for the whole family:

Chicken and mushroom pie (page 32) 

🥬 Mushrooms are currently in season; this meal can be served with a healthy portion of peas, which are low-cost and available all year in canned form. 

❗ Tip: Eat seasonal foods where possible as these are often the more sustainable and more affordable option. See our Eating Well Recipe Book for guidance on how to shop seasonally.  

🍓 Eating sustainable foods is often the low-cost option. Eating more sustainable food is an important aspect of providing better food for all. For example, buying loose fruits and vegetables instead of pre-packaged is more sustainable and generally the lower cost option. 
 

🍐 Main meals should always contain a protein source such as meat, fish, pulses, nuts, seeds, and meat alternatives. Foods in this group are high in iron and zinc, and can also be served as part of a snack 

🍊 1–under 5 year olds should be encouraged to taste at least 5 different fruits and vegetables per day. All types of fresh, frozen, or canned fruit and vegetables are great options for your child. Try to avoid canned fruit and vegetables with added salt or sugar. 

Here are some practical tips to encourage minimally processed, varied diets for young children from our Good Food Guide and Recipe Book: 

This year’s #WorldFoodDay theme is ‘Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future’. Here at First Steps, we want to ensure that everyone, including babies and children, has access to healthy food. Eating more minimally processed foods is good for the planet and people.  

Junk food on the high street

🚨 'We can't keep calling it 'pro-business' to let firms profit from unhealthy food'

Here's what happened when young Food Ambassadors came face to face with MPs at #PartyConferences

🔗 bit.ly/48oa0wV

Postage stamps from around the world illustrating breastfeeding

Healthy food

📢 Is the government doing enough to improve the food system?

As the dust settles on party conferences we examine the evidence using 5️⃣ key markers.

Find out here: ➡️ bit.ly/4oeLHX4
@labouruk.bsky.social

Amazing analysis. Thank you. Some progress is encouraging but we can’t lose sight of blind spots. While there have been some commitments on food and feeding in the early years there’s still a way to go. #BabyBlindSpot

For more on this topic, head to our latest newsletter to read our full summary and the policy recommendations in full:

www.firststepsnutrition.org/news#Uniceff...

Our advocacy and policy-influencing work in the UK aligns with several of the recommendations in the report. Part of our mission is to influence policies which enable the safe, appropriate and optimal feeding of infants and young children in the UK, and to protect them from commercial interest.

...restrictions to transform food environments and increase the availability and affordability of locally produced and nutritious foods for children. It highlights the need to establish safeguarding practices so that public policy processes are protected from influence from the UPF industry.

It makes 8 recommendations that are needed to tackle this problem, including implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes to protect and promote breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding, implementing comprehensive and mandatory measures, such as marketing...

Key drivers of unhealthy food environments are identified as inexpensive UPFs flooding retail markets and schools, high exposure of marketing of UPFs to children, unethical practices of manufacturers which exploit children & inadequate legal measures/policies to protect children’s food environments.

This same pattern is seen in the UK:

▶️ among school-aged children (5-19 years), as of 2022, modelled estimates for underweight in the UK are reported to be 2% while overweight is 30%. This compares to global averages of 10% for underweight and 20% for overweight.

❗️ICYMI: On 10 September 2025, UNICEF published its Child Nutrition Report 2025, Feeding Profit: How food environments are failing children

For the first time ever, among school-aged children and adolescents globally, overweight has exceeded underweight as the dominant form of malnutrition.

Sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already, and read August’s edition via the link in our bio 👏 linktr.ee/firststepsnutrition