CASES of malnutrition have quadrupled since 2007/08 as doctors have warned the cost-of-living crisis has sparked a rise in “Victorian” diseases.
Almost 11,000 people in England were hospitalised with malnutrition last year, according to provisional data obtained by The Times Health Commission under freedom of information laws.
From April 2022 to April 2023, 10,896 NHS patients — including 312 children — were hospitalised with the condition.
The figures also show 171 people were treated for scurvy and 482 patients were admitted with rickets – 405 of them children.
Scurvy develops when a diet does not contain enough vitamin C and symptoms include feeling more tired than usual, swollen or bleeding gums, and bruising easily.
Rickets is a disease caused by a lack of vitamin D or calcium and affects bone development, causing pain, poor growth and weak bones that can lead to deformities.
While the figures may include “imported data” from newly arrived immigrants and refugees, that would not account for the large number of cases, warned Dr Clare Gerada, president of the Royal College of GPs.
“If this is indicative of the health of our most vulnerable, then it is shocking,” said Gerada.
“The poorest people in this country are poorer than any other counterparts in Europe . . . and it’s poor diet. The most common reason a child under five has a general anaesthetic now is for dental care, so that’s a sign of malnutrition.
“This isn’t about the health system, it’s about the social determinants of ill health, indicative of the last 15 years of austerity.”
Gerada said the number of scurvy admissions could be indicative of the inadequate “tea and toast” diet of the elderly population unable to afford fresh fruits and vegetables.
She added the obesity epidemic was another indicator of malnutrition, with most children who are obese more likely to be vitamin D deficient “because they’re not getting the right calories”.
“People are doing without. Parents are struggling to do the basics for their children. We’re going back to a situation where unless we look after our poor, we’re going to end up with more of these diseases of the Victorian era,” she said.
“We won’t end up like the Victorians because it’ll all be sorted by a tablet but it’s a sad environment that we have to sort out poverty by giving out vitamin supplements.”
Gerada has said the UK Government needs to be doing more to provide free school meals to every primary school child.
She said: “If you look at after the Second World War, when rationing was in place, we had very healthy children because they were given food in schools.”
