Mums and mums-to-be who receive “Healthy Start” vouchers will be able to exchange them for plain frozen fruit and vegetables as well as fresh-picked vegetables from Wednesday 6 April 2011.

Plain fruit & veg are those without added sugar, salt & fat, for example frozen peas, broccoli and berries.

Healthy Start is a government scheme that provides vouchers that can be spent on fruit, vegetables and milk in many supermarkets and local shops. The scheme also provides coupons which can be exchanged for women’s and children’s vitamins with the NHS locally.

Deborah Garrod, NHS Norfolk’s Maternal, Infant Nutrition and Breastfeeding Co-ordinator, said: “The take-up of the scheme and use of the fruit and vegetable vouchers is excellent in Norfolk and currently around 79% of eligible families have signed up.

“We are confident that extending the scheme to frozen fruit and vegetables will increase take-up of the scheme further. It will make it even easier for mums and their children to consume their recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.”

Healthy Start is designed to help give children the best nutritional start in life by making healthy eating more affordable and providing the essential vitamins needed by mums and babies.

The Healthy Start children’s vitamin drops contain vitamins A,C and D, and the vitamin tablets for mums contain vitamins C, D and folic acid.

NHS Norfolk has published a list of distribution points for free Healthy Start vitamins on its website at www.norfolk.nhs.uk

It is urging all women, who are eligible, to claim them for themselves and their children.

Deborah added: “Many of our eligible families are not exchanging their vitamin vouchers and we would encourage them to do so. If families have questions or concerns about their diet and vitamin supplements they should talk to their health care professional, midwife, health visitor and GP practice staff.

“We hope that by publishing a list of distribution points on the NHS Norfolk website, it will be easier for eligible women to come forward and claim what is due to them.

“We are encouraging more venues to become vitamin distribution centres and I am keen for other potential distribution centres to contact us. We can add their details to the NHS Norfolk list and organisations can add that link to their own web page. We are also adding our distribution points to the new national list hosted by NHS Choices”

Some of the new distribution centres for Healthy Start vitamins include children’s centres and GP practices.

Any health services providers wanting to help families access Healthy Start by becoming a distribution centre for vitamins should call Deborah Garrod on 01603 257267 or email [email protected]
 
You qualify for Healthy Start if you’re at least 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four years old AND you or your family get:

* Income support, or
* Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance, or
* Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or
* Child Tax Credit (but not Working Tax Credit unless your family is receiving Working Tax Credit run-on only) and an annual family income of £16,190 or less.

You also qualify if you are under 18 and pregnant, even if you don’t get any of the above benefits or tax credits.

Anyone interested in registering for Healthy Start should ask their midwife, health visitor or GP for an application form or download or request one from the Healthy Start website www.healthystart.nhs.uk/ Alternatively, call Healthy Start to request one on 0845 607 6823.

Through Healthy Start, you could get up to £93 worth of vouchers over the course of your pregnancy. If you’ve got two children aged between 1 and 4, you could qualify for Healthy Start vouchers worth over £322.40

Lucy Macleod, a Consultant in Public Health at NHS Norfolk, said: “Healthy Start is an important scheme. The vouchers can really help women with the costs of eating a healthy balanced diet in pregnancy and we are very keen to encourage first-time pregnant women who might not yet be aware of the scheme to sign up.

“We welcome the fact that the vouchers scheme has been extended to include frozen fruit and vegetables, and hope it will encourage more of those who are eligible to claim what is due to them.
“Good nutrition, ideally beginning with breastfeeding, is one of the key factors in a child’s healthy development.”

For more information about the Healthy Start scheme, please visit www.healthystart.nhs.uk

To see the list of distribution points for Healthy Start vitamins in NHS Norfolk’s area, visit the website at www.norfolk.nhs.uk/parenting-and-pregnancy-0