Could free pots and pans boost poor families’ diet?

FAMILIES should get taxpayer-funded pots and pans in an effort to improve the nation’s diet, say health chiefs.

Handing out free cooking equipment would encourage many households who may lack basic utensils to start to cook their own meals from scratch, they argue.

Ministers are looking for fresh ideas to improve the health of the next generation and are considering a smartcard system to help families buy fruit and vegetables.

But NHS Education for Scotland (NES) – which aims to prevent illness by identifying solutions to health problems – insists the Scottish Government should go further by supplying kitchen essentials.

The body suggests basic cooking equipment could be included with the Baby Box, introduced last year by the SNP to give all new parents a crib, baby clothes, books, a changing mat and a towel.

It also recommends that those on benefits with young children should be guaranteed ‘access to utensils or special offers for pots, pans and other cooking utensils’.

It added: ‘Some families do not have these and therefore are unable to cook.’

NES has also called for low-income families to receive cookery lessons and food taster sessions in leisure centres and the chance to join meal-sharing schemes.

However, critics claim the idea would be an incentive too far.

James Price, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘More people should benefit from health benefits of cooking at home.

‘But the solution should not be another taxpayer-funded handout when the tax burden is already at a near 50-year high.’

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: ‘The consultation on welfare foods provided the opportunity to highlight how we can best support families to establish healthy eating patterns.

‘We continue to exploring the best way to support families on low incomes.’