to be fuming at the rates of malnutrition in England?

[sashh]

Reading a report in the Independent about a letter sent to the British Medical Journal.

Malnutrition cases seen in English hospitals has gone up from 3,161 in 2008/09 to 5,499 in 2012/13.

I know some will be people arriving from warn torn Africa, some will be children of frankly evil parents and some will be people not eating due to chemo or some other reasons. But that can't account for such a rise in cases.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/food-poverty-in-uk-has-reached-level-of-public-health-emergency-warn-experts-8981051.html

I am surprised the number of malnourished people is so low. Apparently there are 2 million people with anorexia at the moment, before we even count all the other problems people have getting food.

whilst I agree with Balistapus that it is about choices ( and fish fingers is an excellent example of value food that goes a long way) my kids wouldn't have been full on fish fingers broccoli and carrots - but then I guess this would feed v. small people, but as mine got to school age they were ravenous at home time

The problem does stem from the government in lots of ways, if you have to pay bedroom tax, you suddenly can't afford to pay for decent fresh food, the freezer dies, you can't afford to pay for it as you have to pay extra for the bedroom tax/council tax, or gas (not government I know), your rent increases, your wages don't, you oven dies, you can't afford to replace it. You now have no oven and no freezer, therefore you can't cook or freeze fresh food, what happens when your fridge also goes, how do you store stuff?, a box of cereal and a packet of crisps will last longer than anything frozen or fresh or needing to be cooked, which is why the food bank ask for long life food, people are trying to stay alive under this government and don't have the luxury of nutrition.

I see this everyday at work.

Then (I am on one now ) there are allergies and mixed with no money, this can be very costly.

EXACTLY TooCold....its a domino effect.

I wonder if the rise in malnutrion can be actually directly linked to the rise in the availabilty of McDonalds........

My husband is the primary shopper in our family. He is very careful and does everything he can to make our money go as far as possible. We rely heavily on pasta, potatoes, and rice. My children are welcome to pick through the fruit and veggie bowls as long as they last. Sometimes, at the end of the paycheck things get a bit grim ( no fresh fruit available, tinned veggies on offer only) We always have enough...just enough..

Things are looking up though as I begin my new position on Monday :)