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One in ten pregnant Australians are going hungry and facing food insecurity, new research shows
ABC NEWS (Australia)
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9/29/2024
Thousands of pregnant women in Australia can’t afford food needed to keep themselves and their unborn children healthy. That's the conclusion of a University of Queensland study which found expectant mothers were regularly going hungry.
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00:00
Tiny clothes, cots and car seats.
00:06
Welcoming a newborn is expensive.
00:09
And for struggling mothers, Adelaide Charity Treasure Boxes provides essential supplies.
00:13
Compared to this time last year, we've had a 49% increase in the number of families coming
00:17
to us for support.
00:18
And these are families who have a mortgage and possibly have two stable jobs.
00:23
New research from the Queensland University of Technology has revealed just how difficult
00:28
life has become for expecting mothers.
00:30
We surveyed 1,500 women across Australia while they were pregnant about their diet and the
00:35
most alarming thing that emerged was that one in ten pregnant women are actually going
00:39
hungry.
00:40
The research also found two in five expecting mothers are worrying about food, changing
00:45
the quality of their diet or eating less, with none of the participants getting their
00:50
recommended nutrients.
00:52
It's linked to poor outcomes for children and can even be linked to chronic disease
00:56
in later life.
00:58
So if we don't do something now, then we're actually setting a whole generation of children
01:02
up for poor health outcomes.
01:04
Many of the expecting mothers going hungry had never accessed food relief programs or
01:09
food banks.
01:10
Charities warn many don't know how to find help, while others are too ashamed or too
01:15
scared to ask.
01:17
There's also a bit of a fear that if they access some of those services and they're
01:22
acknowledging going hungry and their children might be going hungry, children in the household
01:26
might be removed.
01:27
Professor Gallegos says Australia could learn from government programs in the US and the
01:31
UK that supply nutritious food and supplements to pregnant women.
01:35
In the meantime, she says there shouldn't be any shame in asking for help.
01:39
But if women are actually experiencing hunger or finding it difficult to put food on the
01:43
table, they need to reach out as soon as possible.
01:46
The longer you go without food, the more risk it is to themselves and to their babies.
01:51
The innocent victims of a cost of living crisis.
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