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Lower household income has been consistently associated with poorer diet quality and poorer dietary health outcomes. Households experiencing poverty find themselves unable to afford enough food, and the food that they can afford is often poor quality, energy dense and low in nutrients. However, the relationship between diet, poverty and health is complex. Not everyone on a low income has a poor diet. Poverty is about more than low incomes and it is not a uniform experience. Particular aspects of the experience of poverty have implications for diet and dietary health. It is increasingly apparent that uncertainty is one of those aspects. Recession, welfare policy, employment trends and widening inequality have created more uncertainty for those on low incomes. In the context of heightened uncertainty, all aspects of household food provisioning – including budgeting, shopping, storage, meal planning and cooking – are more difficult and sometimes impossible. This review will draw on research about food practices and dietary health in low-income neighbourhoods to explore the ways in which experiences of prolonged uncertainty shape dietary practices and impact health and well-being.

The widespread use of food banks in the UK is a key indicator of both food insecurity and the inadequacies of social safety nets. While quantitative measures of food insecurity capture the scale of the issue, understanding the lived experiences of individuals navigating food bank systems provides a deeper, more nuanced perspective. This paper draws on a multi-method qualitative PhD study in two urban areas that investigated the extent to which emergency food parcels intersect with household dietary practices. It reflects upon methodological considerations of conducting interviews and ethnographic observations with stigmatised and vulnerable communities against the backdrop of a global pandemic and social distancing measures. Particularly, the paper draws attention to ethical complexities of researcher-participant dynamics, where the researcher only experiences the precarity of aid contexts intermittently and can leave the field to return to their everyday life. Participants, on the other hand, remain situated in these contexts, navigating the challenging realities under investigation. As a result, it is difficult to balance the expectations of those in crisis, who are consumed by immediacy, with the elongated timescales and distal impact that often characterises the research process. Reflections also explore the intricacies of conducting ethnographic fieldwork in food banks, utilising Participatory Action Research and insider–outsider positionality as guiding frameworks. By examining shifting positionality and relational dynamics in the field, the paper highlights issues of power, trust, and responsibility in research with vulnerable communities or stigmatised environments.

Background There is a need to critically examine both how research infrastructures interact with the populations they serve and the perceived effects of these interactions. This paper reports on a contribution analysis-informed study of a research infrastructure and its place-based approach to working with local communities – the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration East of England (NIHR ARC EoE). The aims were (1) to understand the perceived impact of the NIHR ARC EoE place-based approach and (2) to explore its processes and challenges. Methods From April–June 2023, we interviewed 11 research staff from the infrastructure (NIHR ARC EoE) and nine community-based partners who had worked with NIHR ARC EoE since 2019. The interviews explored experiences of developing research partnerships, learnings, outcomes and challenges. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and subject to a thematic analysis. The findings were subsequently mapped onto a Research Contributions Framework. Results The place-based approach was characterized as relationships-driven and community-focused in building research infrastructure, which improved motivation and commitment to local involvement in research. Three perceived impacts were highlighted: working with underserved communities, cross-sector relationship development and building skills and research capacity. Key barriers included differing expectations of research timescales, a fear of problematizing communities, and intensive resource requirements for developing foundational level relationships. Conclusions The place-based approach enabled opportunities to work with (rather than do to) communities previously underserved by research and where the development of trusting relationships was key. However, strategic efforts to dismantle bureaucratic barriers must be developed to maximize reach and potential. The findings present an effective approach to understanding the impact of a place-based approach to working with communities. The value of a place-based approach is widely applicable to any research infrastructure aiming to collaborate, involve and engage communities in research.

All real processes, be they chemical, mechanical or electrical, are thermodynamically irreversible and therefore suffer from thermodynamic losses. Here, we report the design and operation of a chemical reactor capable of approaching thermodynamically reversible operation. The reactor was employed for hydrogen production via the water–gas shift reaction, an important route to ‘green’ hydrogen. The reactor avoids mixing reactant gases by transferring oxygen from the (oxidizing) water stream to the (reducing) carbon monoxide stream via a solid-state oxygen reservoir consisting of a perovskite phase (La 0.6 Sr 0.4 FeO 3- δ ). This reservoir is able to remain close to equilibrium with the reacting gas streams because of its variable degree of non-stoichiometry and thus develops a ‘chemical memory’ that we employ to approach reversibility. We demonstrate this memory using operando, spatially resolved, real-time, high-resolution X-ray powder diffraction on a working reactor. The design leads to a reactor unconstrained by overall chemical equilibrium limitations, which can produce essentially pure hydrogen and carbon dioxide as separate product streams. Conventional chemical reactors are subject to the equilibrium limitations imposed by the overall reaction. It has now been shown that this limitation can be overcome if reactants are fed separately to a reactor and a non-stoichiometric oxygen carrier is used to transfer both oxygen and key chemical information across a reaction cycle.

Although blattid cockroaches and termites share a common ancestor, their diets are distinctly different. While termites consume a highly specialized diet of lignocellulose, cockroaches are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders. The role of the termite gut microbiota has been studied intensively, but little is known about the cockroach gut microbiota and its function in digestion and nutrition, particularly the adaptation to different diets. Our analyses of the bacterial gut microbiota of the blattid cockroach Shelfordella lateralis combining terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of their 16S rRNA genes with physiological parameters (microbial metabolites, hydrogen and methane emission) indicated substantial variation between individuals but failed to identify any diet-related response. Subsequent deep-sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes of the colonic gut microbiota of S. lateralis fed either a high- or a low-fiber diet confirmed the absence of bacterial taxa that responded to diet. Instead, we found a small number of abundant phylotypes that were consistently present in all samples and made up half of the community in both diet groups. They varied strongly in abundance between individual samples at the genus but not at the family level. The remaining phylotypes were inconsistently present among replicate batches. Our findings suggest that S. lateralis harbors a highly dynamic core gut microbiota that is maintained even after fundamental dietary shifts, and that any dietary effects on the gut community are likely to be masked by strong individual variations.

The gastrointestinal tract of mammals contains a complex microbial community that influences numerous aspects of health and development. It is postulated that establishment of this community during early life has long-term consequences on the health status of adults. Potential influences on colonization are expected to include environmental microbes, diet and the developmental changes of the host. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to follow the individual community dynamics of 24 piglets over the period of 3–36 days after birth. The community of piglets older than 31 days was inferred to show high stability relative to the first 28 days post birth. The stable day 36 community showed significant correlation between cohabiting piglets, but not between siblings. This cohabitation effect was not observable in 1- or 2-week-old piglets but was strongest at either 3 or 4 weeks post birth. The onset of this change after 2 weeks is predicted to be after the development of key induction elements of the immune system and before significant levels of piglet sIgA were observable (4 weeks). The outcome is altered community dynamics that result in significant similarity between the stable communities that develop in cohabiting pigs. We conclude that for a finite period in their development, the outcome of gut colonization in piglets is greatly influenced by the immediate environment. The implication is that mammals have a developmental window, in which the developing host–gut microbiota interaction will be simultaneously more amenable to engineering and more susceptible to disturbance.

If current trends in food insecurity continue then the diets of low-income people may become characterised by the inclusion of significant amounts of donated and surplus food accessed via the third-sector. These developments have yet to be integrated into macro models and concepts of the food environment. Addressing this caveat is necessary in order to both help build an evidence base to challenge policies that exacerbate the drivers of food insecurity and to inform interventions aimed at improving the diets of disadvantaged populations.

Inequalities exist in uptake of bowel cancer screening in England with low uptake in areas with high deprivation and amongst certain ethnic and religious groups. Individuals from these groups are more likely to receive a late diagnosis of bowel cancer. Uptake in Muslim communities, for example, has been shown to be lower than in the general population. Culturally adapted interventions are needed to address these inequalities. This feasibility study aims to assess the acceptability and accessibility of an educational faith-placed bowel cancer screening intervention in the East of England, alongside its impact on bowel screening uptake. It was developed by the British Islamic Medical Association in partnership with community stakeholders and professionals. Ethical approval was granted on the 27 October 2021, REC reference number 21/EE/0231. A two-group non-randomised feasibility mixed methods study will be conducted, using surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Participants eligible for bowel screening will be recruited through local mosques and community venues. We aim to recruit 100 participants to the intervention group and 150 to the comparison group (not receiving the intervention). Intervention group participants will complete a survey at baseline, post-intervention and at six-month follow up. Comparison group participants will complete a survey at baseline and at six-month follow up. Outcomes will include: intention to take up screening; actual screening uptake; knowledge, attitudes, barriers and facilitators towards screening. Regional screening hub records will be used to ascertain actual screening uptake at six-month follow-up. Quantitative survey data will be summarised using descriptive statistics (e.g., proportion), and exploratory univariate analysis will be undertaken (e.g., chi-squared test). Two focus group interviews will be conducted with intervention group participants (with up to 16 participants). Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 10 clinicians delivering the intervention to explore the acceptability of the intervention, training, and delivery. All qualitative data will be subject to a general inductive analysis. The findings will inform how faith-placed interventions can be implemented to increase uptake of bowel cancer screening, and potentially other health promotion programmes, to address health inequalities in ethnically diverse communities in England.

Objective It remains unclear which interventions are effective in promoting more environmentally sustainable food choices within online grocery shopping environments. We set out to (1) use a plug-in (browser extension) to implement a pilot randomised controlled trial of eco-labels providing information on the environmental impact of specific food products, and (2) collect data to inform a larger trial investigating the effectiveness of eco-labels and other interventions promoting environmentally sustainable online food purchases. The plug-in was custom-built and active on a large UK supermarket website, accessed using the Google Chrome browser on a desktop or laptop. Results Of the 504 participants screened, 161 met eligibility criteria and were invited to participate in the study. 57 of these downloaded the plug-in (23 in the control group, 34 in the intervention group), of which 22 shopped at least once over the 1-month trial. There was no significant difference in average eco-score of purchases between the control and intervention groups (mean ± SD: 32 ± 13 vs. 41 ± 14; p  = 0.22). 69/161 eligible participants responded to a follow-up survey and suggested technical support, reminders, greater incentives, and more information about eco-labels were needed for the full trial. We showed that it is feasible to evaluate online grocery shopping interventions without the collaboration of a supermarket using a web browser extension. Trial registration This pilot trial was not registered, as its main purpose was to test the implementation of the plugin and gather data useful for planning the main trial, which is registered under ISRCTN18800054 as of 27/03/2024.

Background In England, the number of takeaway food outlets (‘takeaways’) has been increasing for over two decades. Takeaway management zones around schools are an effective way to restrict the growth of new takeaways but their impacts on population health have not been estimated. Methods To model the impact of takeaway management zones on health, we used estimates of change in and exposure to takeaways (across home, work, and commuting buffers) based on a previous evaluation suggesting that 50% of new outlets were prevented from opening because of management zones. Based on previous cross-sectional findings, we estimated changes in body mass index (BMI) from changes in takeaway exposure, from 2018 to 2040. We used PRIMEtime, a proportional multistate lifetable model, and BMI change to estimate the impact of the intervention, in a closed-cohort of adults (25–64 years), on incidence of 12 non-communicable diseases, obesity prevalence, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and healthcare costs saved by 2040 in six local authorities (LAs) across the rural–urban spectrum in England (Wandsworth, Manchester, Blackburn with Darwen, Sheffield, North Somerset, and Fenland). Results By 2031, compared to no intervention, reductions in outlet exposure ranged from 3 outlets/person in Fenland to 28 outlets/person in Manchester. This corresponded to mean per person reductions in BMI of 0.08 and 0.68 kg/m 2 , respectively. Relative to no intervention, obesity prevalence was estimated to be reduced in both sexes in all LAs, including by 2.3 percentage points (PP) (95% uncertainty interval:2.9PP, 1.7PP) to 1.5PP (95%UI:1.9PP, 1.1PP) in males living in Manchester and Wandsworth by 2040, respectively. Model estimates showed reductions in incidence of disease, including type II diabetes (e.g. 964 (95% UI: 1565, 870) fewer cases/100,000 population for males in Manchester)), cardiovascular diseases, asthma, certain cancers, and low back pain. Savings in healthcare costs (millions) ranged from £1.65 (95% UI: £1.17, £2.25)/100,000 population in North Somerset to £2.02 (95% UI: £1.39, £2.83)/100,000 population in Wandsworth. Gains in QALYs/100,000 person were broadly similar across LAs. Conclusions Takeaway management zones in England have the potential to meaningfully contribute towards reducing obesity prevalence and associated healthcare burden in the adult population, at the local level and across the rural–urban spectrum.