Government cash just the carrot for pregnant mums

By: Dean Best - 10 September 2007 12:26

The phrase “nanny state” rankles with me. Governments are too often – and too easily – criticized for not doing enough to tackle a range of social ills. In the UK, for instance, the Government is constantly targeted for not being proactive enough in dealing with issues like obesity and binge drinking.

Don’t get me wrong, governments have a central and vital role in tackling these ticking social timebombs. Yet when a perfectly reasonable idea is touted to tackle these issues head on, we hear the familiar cry of a “nanny state”, cries that the Government should not “interfere” with how we run our lives. Well, we can’t have it both ways. And the UK government’s idea of giving pregnant women cash to spend on fresh fruit and veg is an eminently sensible way of the state intervening to improve the population’s health.

The measure, to be introduced in 2009, will see all expectant mothers given a one-off payment of around GBP120 (US$244) to spend on healthy food when they are seven months pregnant. Sure, some could argue that perhaps seven months is a bit late when trying to boost the nutrition a foetus gets in the womb. And, of course, while there is no compulsion to spend the cash on mangoes, melons or mushrooms, women may spend the money on alcohol and cigarettes instead.

In some quarters, the measure has been derided as a misguided policy from the “nanny state”. However, combined with intensifying health campaigns on the importance of a balanced diet – as well as the dangers of drinking and smoking during pregnancy – the cash may just be the carrot many mothers need to give their kids’ a healthier start in life.

Comments on this blog post

The cash hand out would surely be better spent educating women as to the role of nutrition in pregnancy, earlier? Such subject matter in countries where ante-natal education does take place, it often takes place too late. Nutrition is equally is as important during fetal cellular development as it is later in pregnancy when newborn weight comes into play. If the government wants to tackle the issue of underweight babies, surely better then to address the issue when it matters most, ie earlier in pregnancy, rather than shutting the stable door after the horse has figuritively bolted. Often women understand they need to watch their dietary health when pregnant, but it's been my experience that they don't understand why, or the consequences of not eating healthily to themeselves or their babies. Neither are they aware that being nutritionally concious in early pregnancy effects their childs health through to adulthood. The governmental spend in this instance, although positive, doesn't have as much impact long term as it could have had. Jackie

Jacqueline Bradshaw, United Kingdom

I think it would be a better idea to give vouchers that can only be used to buy certain types of food at regular intervals throughout the pregnancy. That way people can't go out and spend it on other things, and it's not as though if you had a lump sum you could spend it on fresh fruit and veg to last 9 months! (Or indeed 2 months if it’s not received until month 7). The money could either be spent straight away on other things or put into the bank and consumed elsewhere without realising before anything the money was intended for is actually bought. I agree with the last paragraph, in order for such a scheme to work, it would need to be used in conjunction with information and campaigns on healthy eating in pregnancy. After all, it would be the people who are not used to buying and eating healthy foods that the Government is really aiming at. It can’t be assumed that, given a bit of extra cash, women will automatically become experts in healthy eating.

Boris, United Kingdom