Improving the diet of under fives in a deprived inner city practice

This paper reports the introduction of a programme of dietary education to a selected group of young mothers living in a deprived inner city area. The programme was devised by a general practitioner and practice health visitors in collaboration with two hospital dietitians. A diary was used to provide data on diet, food choice, shopping habits, eating together, and planning and frequency of meals. These were included in a list of twelve 'desirable' food groups and three organisational skills, thus providing an individual syllabus for teaching, and a means of assessing the intervention. At the start of the study milk, fruit, vegetables and protein containing iron were common dietary omissions. However, the results show that these foods were an established part of the children's diets following the intervention. The dietary diaries provided a successful means of analysis, and the teaching programme is continuing in this practice. The limitations of such a small study are acknowledged, and a long-term controlled study is suggested.