"We know that the first 1,000 days are the most important time in a child's life. If you get that right you have a much better chance of a life being healthy in the future.” Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, the Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) project The Ferret investigates…the health gap, is a three-part special podcast from The Ferret media co-op and Greater Govanhill magazine looking at the health gap – that’s the stark difference between the health and wellbeing of people depending on where you live. In Scotland men in the most deprived areas of Scotland have a life expectancy of almost 14 years less than those in the most affluent areas. And for women that gap is ten and a half years. This podcast – part of our year-long Mind the health gap solutions journalism project – doesn’t just highlight the problems but looks at the responses, from Scotland and beyond, that might help us fix them. Part one looks at child and infant health and hears why a good start in life really matters for long term wellbeing. Guests include Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at Edinburgh University who is also a Scottish Government advisor. She claims the Scottish Child Payment is having an impact on reducing child poverty. We also hear from migrant women accessing English lessons at Milk Cafe in Govanhill,  Glasgow about the challenges of eating well on a restricted budget, and visit the Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) project in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.You can find all three episodes of The Ferret investigates...the health gap on The Ferret or wherever you get your podcasts. Credits: Hosts: Karin Goodwin, of The Ferret and Samar Jamal, of Greater Govanhill magazine Interviews: Rhiannon Davies and Samar Jamal Production: Halina Rifai and Karin Goodwin Episode editing and sound: Halina Rifai Music: Loris S. SaridPackage about Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition Reporting, sound recording and writing: Samar Jamal and Rhiannon Davies Editing and sound: Flora Zajicek This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyAdBarker - https://adbarker.com/privacy