The reality is that our health is shaped by far more than the choices we make as individuals.
Where we live, our income, the quality of our housing, our education, our work, our environment and our access to services can all influence our health and wellbeing. For children and young people, these factors can have an impact from the very earliest stages of life, influencing their experiences at school, their opportunities, their confidence and ultimately their future health.
That’s why health equity matters.
We’re proud to see Rethink Food co-founder Nathan Atkinson sharing his thoughts on health equity in a new guest blog for Fresh Start in Education.
For Nathan, health equity is about recognising that not everyone starts from the same place and that creating healthier communities means understanding and addressing the barriers that can stand in people’s way.
At Rethink Food, this is something we see every day.
Our work is rooted in the belief that food, health, education and opportunity are all connected. Whether it’s helping schools create positive relationships with food, supporting families through the National School Pantry Network, or giving children the knowledge and confidence to make healthier choices, we’re working to tackle some of the inequalities that can shape people’s lives.
Because giving everyone the same thing doesn’t necessarily create equality.
Sometimes, creating a fairer opportunity means recognising that people have different starting points and different barriers and providing the right support to help overcome them.
Schools have a particularly important role to play. They are places where children learn, grow, build relationships and develop habits that can stay with them throughout their lives. They can also be places where wider inequalities become visible.
That means improving health and wellbeing cannot be the responsibility of one organisation, one profession or one sector alone.
It requires schools, families, communities, businesses, policymakers and organisations to work together.
Nathan’s blog explores what health equity really means in the context of school-based education, why inequalities persist and, importantly, what we can do differently to create healthier and fairer communities.
It’s a conversation we’re proud to be part of and one we believe needs to continue.
