The state of prisoner dietary health and the impact of dietary interventions on prisoner health, wellbeing and behaviour

Prisoners experience a higher burden of health issues compared to the general population. Diets are compromised, and improvements could lead to better health outcomes. Vitamin D deficiency is global, and evidence suggests it improves health beyond its primary role in bone health. As a vitamin difficult to obtain from diet, and mainly acquired from sunlight exposure, prisoners are highly vulnerable to deficiency. This PhD aims to: (I), systematically review nutrition studies in prisons, with a focus on mental health, (II) assess how the impact of the food environment on prisoners’ health and wellbeing, (III) provide evidence on the current state of prisoner diets and nutritional provisions by prison establishments; and (IV) research the efficacy of vitamin D supplements on improving health and behavioural outcomes in prisoners. This work identified that supplementation research produced mixed results regarding mental health outcomes, with a common limitation being lack of baseline dietary intake. Survey responses from former prisoners found that food was lacking in quality, negatively impacting wellbeing. Menu and food diary analyses demonstrated that prisoner diets were compromised, with insufficient vitamin D and excess sugar and salt, all of which posed health risks (p < 0.05). Finally, the vitamin D supplementation study, the population was deficient at baseline with supplements increasing levels to sufficiency in the active group (p < 0.05). Depression severity improved in the active group compared to control (p < 0.05), similar results were not found for anxiety and wellbeing (p > 0.05). Diets, menu provisions, and survey data identify similar concerning trends over food quality, poor diets, and vitamin D deficiency. However, promising is identifying that vitamin D supplements allowed prisoners to reach sufficiency closing the gap resulting from poor diets. These results highlight that vitamin D could aid in improving general wellbeing, depression, and anxiety severity among prisoners.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Author dc:creator

• Poulter, Matthew William Charles

Contributors dc:contributor

• Tammam, Jonathan
• Coe, Shelly
• Graham, Catherine

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/p5ym-y490

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:fdf1956a-77d8-4423-aa3d-9cc5ef22f434:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1