Children’s health ‘shocking’ postcode lottery, charity says
BBC News | Health | 7 September 2015
Some local authorities in England are not doing enough to prevent health problems in children under the age of five, a report suggests.
The National Children’s Bureau says it found wide variations in levels of obesity and tooth decay, even in areas of similar deprivation.
The charity said it was “shocking” children could have “wildly different” health prospects depending on location.
The government said it showed the need to devolve health spending locally.
The report, which analysed data from Public Health England, showed 51% of five-year-olds in Leicester tooth decay compared with 9.5% of five-year-olds in West Sussex.
Childhood health problems
150,000+ | five-year-olds are affected by tooth decay
60,000 | four-to-five-year-olds in England are obese
- £51m a year estimated short-term costs of child obesity
- 26,000 children aged five to nine were admitted to hospital to have teeth removed in 2013/14
- 10% of Reception children in London, the West Midlands and the North East are obese
It also found a child on the Isle of Wight is more than four times more likely to be admitted to hospital with an injury than a child in central London. The charity said that while variations are closely linked to poverty, poorer health outcomes in deprived areas are not inevitable.
Children in Hartlepool, South Tyneside and Islington, north London have relatively low rates of tooth decay despite high levels of poverty while Salford in Greater Manchester has low obesity rates.
