The scheme helps young families and those who are more than 10 weeks pregnant to access healthy food, milk and vitamins.
Eligibility for the scheme also depends on the benefit the person receives and what their income is.
Once on the scheme, people will get:
• £4.25 each week of their pregnancy (from the 10th week of pregnancy)
• £8.50 each week for children from birth to one year old
• £4.25 each week for children between one and four years old
The payments will stop on the child’s 4th birthday or if they no longer receive the qualifying benefits.
NHS Healthy Start beneficiaries can buy:
• plain liquid cow’s milk, including long-life, pasteurised or ultra heat treated (UHT) varieties of milk. This does not include milk which has had chemicals, vitamins, favours or colours added or removed.
• fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables, including loose, pre-packed, whole, sliced, chopped or mixed fruit or vegetables, fruit in fruit juice, or fruit or vegetables in water, but not those to which fat, salt, sugar or favouring have been added
• cow’s milk-based infant formula milk. This must be labelled as suitable for use from birth and satisfy, by itself, an infant’s nutritional needs
• fresh, dried and tinned pulses, including but not limited to lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas but not those to which fat, salt, sugar or favouring have been added
Beneficiaries of the scheme can also get the following free Healthy Start vitamins:
• Women’s vitamins for those who are pregnant or have a child up to one year old
• Children’s vitamin drops for children up to four years old.