At Feeding Liverpool, we know that good food is about more than what we eat. It is about health, opportunity and fairness – and whether people across our city can access the basics needed to live well.
During Nutrition and Hydration Week, there is an opportunity to look more closely at how nutrition and hydration shape health across the life course, and why access to good food remains a challenge for many communities in Liverpool.
To explore this further, we spoke with a Consultant at Liverpool City Council Public Health, who shared insights into how food insecurity continues to affect people across the city from early childhood through to older age. Their perspective highlights not only the health implications that limited access to nutritious food presents, but also the importance of improving access, affordability and awareness in order to support healthier communities across Liverpool.
Inequality Across Liverpool
Liverpool is a city of strong communities and local pride, but it is also one where health inequalities and deprivation continue to impact daily life for many people. Indeed, access to affordable, nutritious food is not consistent across the city, with some neighbourhoods facing limited availability of fresh, healthy options.
Our Consultant speaks of this issue being reflected in wider public health data and the growing pressures on long-term health:
Liverpool has high levels of deprivation and significant health inequalities, which can impact on a person’s nutrition and hydration. The 2040 State of Health Report projects a rise in chronic health conditions, a reduction in healthy life expectancy for women and our children facing issues around mental health, obesity and child poverty.
Good nutrition and hydration is essential to a person’s physical and mental wellbeing – making it essential that we raise awareness of the importance of this to people of all ages.
Food Insecurity and Its Impact on Health
For many households across the city, access to food is uncertain, inconsistent or reliant on emergency support.
The health impacts of this are wide-ranging, as confirmed by our Public Health Consultant :
In Liverpool, one in three people are living in food insecurity – meaning that they lack consistent access to enough nutritious food. In the short-term, this can lead to nutritional deficiencies, stress, malnutrition, fatigue, sleep issues and a weakened immune system. Longer-term, this can result in chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol.
Food insecurity also has a profound impact on mental wellbeing; the stress and uncertainty of not knowing where your next meal is coming from can affect a person’s mood, increase anxiety and make everyday life more difficult to manage.
The Reality Behind Low-Cost Food
For many people, the challenge is not simply access to food – but access to the right kind of food.
Healthier food options are often more expensive, less accessible or harder to store and prepare. As a result, people may rely on cheaper, more processed foods that are higher in calories but lower in nutritional value.
This creates complex health outcomes across the city, as our Consultant at Public Health explains:
Low-cost, less nutritious food often contains more calories, which can lead to people becoming overweight or obese – a challenge often seen in the city. It can, however, also cause people to become underweight and can lead to nutrient deficiencies. This can have an impact on children and young people, who could then face developmental delays, experience stunted growth and have difficulty concentrating in school.
This highlights a key issue: malnutrition is not always visible and can have severe long-term consequences for both physical and cognitive development.
Supporting Health at Every Stage of Life
Good nutrition and hydration are essential throughout life, but the risks of poor access to food are particularly significant at key stages.
In early childhood, nutrition supports growth, brain development and immune function. Without access to nutritious food, children may face developmental challenges that affect them long into adulthood.
As our Consultant at Public Health notes:
Healthy diets from a young age are really important and often start with breastfeeding, as breast milk contains vitamins and minerals that can offer protection from certain infections and help improve a child’s health in the long-term.
They then went on to explain how good dietary behaviours and preferences established in childhood should continue into adulthood, as good hydration and nutrition are required to maintain a healthy weight and manage long-term health:
As we age, although people may become less physically active, our vitamin and mineral requirements do not change. Ensuring good nutrition and hydration in later life can help to increase quality of life, reduce the risk of falls and maintain a healthy weight.
This life course perspective is critical. It shows that improving access to good food is not just about addressing immediate need – it is about supporting lifelong health and reducing future inequalities.
Good Food as the Foundation of Long-Term Health
Access to nutritious food is one of the most effective ways to support long-term health and prevent illness according to our Public Health Consultant:
Access to and intake of nutritious food is vital for long-term health, as having good nutrition can reduce the risk of falls, increase the body’s ability to fight infections, aid healing and have a positive impact on a person’s wellbeing. It can also reduce the risk of a number of illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
This reinforces the idea that food is a key part of prevention, not just treatment.
Making Healthy Food More Accessible
Despite the clear benefits of good nutrition, many people continue to face barriers when trying to eat well – particularly around cost.
With healthier food often being significantly more expensive, households on low incomes are often forced to make difficult choices. However, across Liverpool, there are practical ways people are being supported to access better food.
As our Consultant at Public Health highlights:
Unhealthy food is three times cheaper than healthy food, which can be a challenge for people who are trying to eat well on a low budget. Initiatives like the Queen of Greens mobile greengrocer and local markets – which are often rooted in the communities they serve – can support people to access affordable, healthy food closer to where they live and in smaller quantities, which enables people to buy exactly how much they need.
They also provided some tips that people can incorporate into their shopping habits to help support their dietary needs:
Making a meal plan and having a shopping list can prevent people from buying things they already have or do not really need. Value brands are often just as good, and are available at a lower cost. Tinned fruit (in natural juice) and vegetables (in water with no added salt) are also cheaper alternatives that can be easily added to a meal.
The Role of Community and Partnership Working
Community organisations play a vital role in addressing food insecurity across Liverpool. From foodbanks and community kitchens to growing projects and shared meals, these initiatives provide both practical support and social connection.
This has been confirmed by our Public Health Consultant:
Liverpool is home to three of the top ten food deserts in the UK – this is an area that is at least one mile away from a supermarket – which makes access to healthier food challenging for many in the city. At the Council, we have seen that working with local community organisations and having partnerships can help to bring affordable, fresh, healthy food into the heart of communities. Community organisations are also great at providing support that increases awareness of the importance of eating healthy food and keeping hydrated.
Through partnership working, community organisations across Liverpool are also helping to:
- Improve access to affordable food
- Build skills and confidence around cooking and nutrition
- Create spaces for communities to come together
This collective approach is essential in building a fairer, more resilient food system.
Small Changes, Big Impact
While systemic change is essential, small individual actions can also support better health.
When asked to recommend one small change people could make to support their nutrition or hydration, our Consultant at Public Health said:
People need to ensure they drink water regularly throughout the day and focus on eating a well-balanced diet.
These simple habits, when supported by the right environment, can make a meaningful difference. That means creating a city where people have affordable options in local shops and markets, access to community food initiatives and the knowledge and confidence to make healthy choices day to day.
Working Towards a Healthier Liverpool
Nutrition is not just about personal choice – it is about access, affordability and the systems that shape our daily lives.
From early childhood through to older age, access to good food and hydration plays a crucial role in determining health outcomes. Yet across Liverpool, too many people still face barriers to achieving this.
The work of community organisations, partnerships and local initiatives shows what is possible when we act together. By continuing to invest in these approaches, we can move towards a city where everyone has access to the food they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives.
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