Parents urged to claim healthy food vouchers

Parents are being encouraged to apply for vouchers to help buy healthy food.

Healthy Start vouchers allow people to purchase fruit, vegetables, milk and get free vitamins.

The scheme is designed for pregnant women and families with children up to the age of four.

The NHS Humber Health Partnership said up to £350,000 a year was going unclaimed in Hull alone as people were unaware they were entitled to the support.

Joanna Melia, a public health specialist midwife at the partnership, which serves East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, said: “Eating and drinking healthily during pregnancy means you’re giving your baby a great start to life while looking after your own health.

“These vouchers are a great way of paying for healthy fruit, vegetables, pulses and milk and I’d encourage everyone entitled to the benefit to claim it.”

Women on Universal Credit can apply for the Healthy Start voucher scheme when they are more than 10 weeks pregnant. They are issued with a card preloaded with money which gets recharged every four weeks.

Parents can apply on the NHS Healthy Start website.

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