Get help to buy food and milk

Get help to buy food and milk

(the Healthy Start scheme)

What is Healthy Start?

If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.

If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. We’ll add your benefit onto this card every 4 weeks.

You can use your card to buy:

  • plain liquid cow’s milk
  • fresh, frozen, and tinned fruit and vegetables
  • fresh, dried, and tinned pulses
  • infant formula milk based on cow’s milk

You can also use your card to collect:

  • Healthy Start vitamins – these support you during pregnancy and breastfeeding
  • vitamin drops for babies and young children – these are suitable from birth to 4 years old

Information: If you live in Scotland

You can get help from Best Start Foods (opens in a new tab) instead.

Advice on healthy eating

For more advice on healthy eating, visit:

A child holding a knife and fork, about to eat a plate of vegetables

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions that people may have about the Healthy Start scheme

Alert: The online application will be unavailable between 5pm on Saturday 2 November and 10am on Monday 4 November.

We apologise for any inconvenience.