Poverty and low income is seriously affecting children’s health across the UK, according to a report.
Now doctors have called on the UK Government to tackle health inequalities or risk storing up health problems for future generations.
The report launched today by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Child Poverty Action Group shows poverty and low income contribute “very much” to the ill health of children.
One Scots doctor tells how mums are being forced to water down milk for their children due to lack of money .
Another doctor warns more and more children are suffering constipation due to poor diet – because their parents can’t afford healthy food.
More than 60 per cent of paediatricians who took part in the RCPCH survey said “ food insecurity ” contributed to the ill health among children they treat.
Poor housing, high stress levels among parents and lack of support in deprived areas also contributed to a generation of unhealthy youngsters.
Latest figures show that 30 per cent of all children in the UK – around four million – live in poverty, with projections suggesting this could rise to five million by the end of the decade.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Day in, day out doctors see the damage rising poverty does to children’s health.
“Low family incomes, inadequate housing and cuts to support services are jeopardising the health of our most vulnerable children.
“We can and must do better to protect the well-being of future generations.
“Re-instating the UK’s poverty-reduction targets would be an obvious place to start.”
In Scotland, more than half of all paediatrician's who took part in the survey said housing and homelessness were major concerns.
One paediatrician said: “ Homelessness or the threat of homelessness impacts enormously on a child and family. Securing a decent place to stay becomes the overriding priority for the family.
“It is telling in a consultation how no progress can be made in managing a child’s health concerns until I make a commitment to assist the family in their search for new accommodation”.
Another Scots paediatrician said: “I feel that we are setting up a generation to fail because we are taking away support that would have previously been in place.”
Some medics spoke of children being unwell with “back-to-back respiratory illnesses”, while one told how parents dilute down milk as they can’t afford formula milk.
Professor Russell Viner, of RCPCH, said: “Poverty has a devastating effect on child health and this makes disturbing reading.
“The health impact on children living in poverty is significant – whether that’s increased likelihood of respiratory problems, mental ill-health or obesity – than children living in more affluent areas.
“Worryingly, almost half of those surveyed feel it is getting worse, with the combination of increasing poverty, housing problems and cuts to services leaving more families struggling.”
Poverty left a Scots mum too malnourished to breastfeed her baby before a charity offered her family a lifeline.
Suzanne Harkins and her family, from Paisley, hit a crisis point when she was made redundant at the same time her husband had to leave work due to ill health.
Their finances plummeted just weeks before mum-of-two Suzanne was due to have a baby, forcing them to leave their home in London and declare themselves homeless in Scotland.
The family’s benefits were halved for three months after sanctions were incorrectly applied, leaving them with just £50 per fortnight. Suzanne, 45, and her husband, who worked as psychiatric nurses, began skipping meals.
She added: “I had to stop breastfeeding because I just wasn’t producing enough milk.”
It was only when the family got help from the Trussell Trust , who run many of the UK’s food banks, that things began to change for the better.
Suzanne said: “These people wanted to hear what was going on in our lives and wanted to help us.
“Not just with the food but with emotional support.
“I don’t know what we would have done if the food bank hadn’t been able to help us and I know people are still in dire need.”