That the UK should come to this – hungry kids! And rickets!

An intensely depressing article in the 'i' on 18th November 2013 by Charlie Cooper and Kunal Dutta tells me that the number of malnutrition cases treated at NHS hospital has nearly doubled during the economic downturn.

Quoting from the article: 'The figures, broken down by region, reveal the heaviest burden of hunger is being felt in rural areas. Hospitals in Somerset saw the most cases, with 215 diagnoses, followed by Cornwall and Scilly Isles.'

And: 'In another indication of food poverty's growing impact, figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that diagnoses of rickets – a disease of poverty associated with vitamin D deficiency – have also risen significantly, from 561 in 2008/09 to 702 in the past year.'

Kumal gives us a case study: 'The welfare charity Kids Company has shared stories of some of London's hungry. Chris, 10, showed signs of malnourishment with pale skin and dark rings under his eyes. He was so hungry he chipped bits of brick off the wall and ate them. His alcoholic father left his mother two years ago. The only food the children were given was cheap and processed. Key workers intervened by picking him up from school every day and eating a healthy supper with him in one of Kids Company's centres.'

So, the next time that girl with learning difficulties in your class is nor performing as well as you expected, or the disabled boy is not co-operating in his therapy session it could be that hunger lies at the heart of the problem.

Comment by Peter Limbrick. Your comments welcome. E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. please.