Doctors warn worsening poverty is ‘devastating’ for children’s health

Poverty is having a devastating impact on children’s health, with parents diluting milk, skimping on food and youngsters living in damp, cold housing, paediatricians say.

A new report based on a survey with 250 paediatricians across the UK, found almost half think things are getting worse.

Just three doctors said the situation was improving for the children in their care.

Data shows that four million children – or three in ten – across the UK live in poverty after housing costs are taken 0 Children’s health being hit hard by poverty say doctors into account. This is predicted to rise to five million by the end of the decade.

In the new report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), more than three in five doctors said food insecurity – including poor nutrition and inability to buy enough food – contributes “very much” to the ill health of children in their care.

Doctors told how parents deprive themselves of food and rely on food banks, while others cannot afford clothes, toothbrushes or toothpaste.

More than two-thirds of doctors said homelessness or poor housing contribute “very much” or “somewhat” to the ill health of children they work with. Just under a third said the inability to keep warm at home contributed “very much” to child ill-health.