TV review by Mark Langabeer, Hastings and Rye Labour member
During the election campaign, it was reported that Keir Starmer, now Prime Minister, was shocked by the fact that the greatest number of hospital admissions for children was for teeth extractions. It shows how poor diet and poverty interact to directly impact the health of children, leading to what this week’s Panorama calls a “crisis” in British children’s health.
The TV reporter, Rahil Sheikh, visited Sheffield, a city of around one and a half people. He grew up here, in the Park Hill area, a deprived part of the city and he reports on the growing number of children who are living in poverty.
An interview with a senior consultant, revealed that in the case of one child, eighteen teeth had to be extracted. She suggested that the main problem was for children between the ages of four and eight.
Sheikh also interviewed a mother who had tried to register with a dental practice, but was told that there was a two-year waiting period! Poor dental health has a knock on effect in other areas, on children’s education, for example. One headteacher noted that toothache and gum infection were common causes of non attendance at school. When there is tooth decay in childhood, in invariably extends poor dental practices and problems into adulthood.
The question is not isolated from economic hardship. As the programme reveals when Sheikh interviews an expert on inequalities in healthcare, Professor Sir Michael Marmot. He told us that today’s children are on average are shorter than the previous generation, after many generations when average height had been increasing. British children are on average seven centimetres shorter than they are in the Netherlands.
Today’s children are smaller than the previous generation
Then there is life expectancy. In Sheffield, it is ten years less in the most deprived areas, compared to more affluent areas of the city. Mental health support is also failing. As with dentistry, there are long waiting lists for the assessment of mental health conditions. Marmot suggested bluntly that austerity is the primary cause of the growth of child poverty, made far worse by the recent crisis in the cost of living.
Poor diet is related to this because in most cases, processed food, and ultra-processed food, is cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. In some inner-city areas where there are only small corner shops, healthy foods are simply unavailable – they are healthy food ‘deserts’. The large, cheaper supermarkets are often out of reach of poorer households, because they can only be accessed by car journeys.
In 2017, the Tories introduced a two-child cap on child benefit, so those families with more children could get nothing extra. As Marmot describes, it this is a “punishment” for the poorest in society. It is the biggest single cause of the increase in child poverty and it is no wonder that even Labour right-wingers like Gordon Brown are calling for its abolition.
Those affected by this disgraceful two-child limit could number up to almost three million by 2030. It is estimated scrapping the limit would cost the Exchequer £3-4 bn, but unfortunately, it looks like Starmer has decided that keeping to Tory fiscal rules takes precedent over striking a blow against child poverty.
According to some estimates, up to 500,000 people could be taken out of poverty if the cap was lifted. Ironically, lifting the cap would probably save money in the longer run, because it would reduce many health and other social problems that are caused by household poverty.
The Labour Party was founded over a hundred years ago, among other things, from the need to relieve poverty and reduce inequality. The Party has to return to the ideas of its founders, if it really wishes to implement serious change.
The programme can be found on BBC i-player, here.
