A shocking rise in the number of people being treated for malnutrition has led to the return of Victorian conditions, it has been reported. The Times reported that scurvy and rickets have come back - with cases on the rise.
According to the report almost 11,000 people in England were hospitalised with malnutrition last year, with the cost of living crisis seemingly meaning people have been unable to feed themselves or their families properly.
Just this week the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the government ending the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift to help the poorest during the pandemic had plunged more than 100,000 extra people into ‘absolute poverty’. Provisional data newly obtained by The Times Health Commission under freedom of information laws reveal that cases of malnutrition have more than doubled in a decade and have quadrupled since 2007/8.
From 2022 to April 2023, 10,896 NHS patients — including 312 children — were hospitalised with the condition in England. The figures also show that 171 people were treated for scurvy and 482 patients were admitted with rickets, 405 of them children. Scurvy is a disease caused by severe vitamin C deficiency, typically in the elderly, while rickets is caused by prolonged vitamin D deficiency, typically in children.
In the 18th century sailors used to suffer scurvy as they were unable to get fresh fruit and vegetables while on long voyages.
Dr Clare Gerada said: “If this is indicative of the health of our most vulnerable, then it is shocking. 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.”
If people are getting scurvy it could mean people are not able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables. Department for Work and Pensions data showed that around one in six people in the UK were in relative poverty, measured as “relative low income” before housing costs in 2021/22.
Dr Gerada said 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.”
At Deputy Prime Minister’s questions today Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner clashed about poverty in Britain. She said: said: “The truth is rising bills, soaring mortgages and plummeting real wages are pushing more and more families to the brink. Those already struggling are being hit hardest by the Tory mortgage bombshell and rising food costs.”
Ms Rayner asked how many primary school children have been “pushed into poverty” since the Government took power, with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden replying: “It is this party, not the party opposite, which extended free school meals to all five, six and seven-year-olds, something the party opposite failed to do, and it sits alongside many measures we’re taking to help people with the cost of living.”
She pointed to research suggesting 400,000 more primary school age children are growing up in poverty, with Mr Dowden saying: “I will take absolutely no lectures whatsoever from the party opposite about how we help children in the most need.”
Official NHS advice on scurvy
Things that increase risk of scurvy:
- have no fresh fruits or vegetables in your diet for a while
- eat very little food at all – possible reasons include treatments that make you feel very sick all the time (such as chemotherapy) or an eating disorder such as anorexia
- smoke, as smoking reduces how much vitamin C your body gets from food
- have a long-term dependency on drugs or alcohol that affects your diet
- have a poor diet while pregnant or breastfeeding, because the body needs more vitamin C at these times
See a GP if you're at risk of scurvy and you:
- feel very tired and weak all the time
- feel irritable and sad all the time
- have severe joint or leg pain
- have swollen, bleeding gums (sometimes teeth can fall out)
- develop red or blue spots on the skin, usually on your shins
- have skin that bruises easily
Official NHS advice on rickets
A lack of vitamin D or calcium is the most common cause of rickets. Vitamin D largely comes from exposing the skin to sunlight, but it's also found in some foods, such as oily fish and eggs. Vitamin D is essential for the formation of strong and healthy bones in children.
The signs and symptoms of rickets can include:
- pain – the bones affected by rickets can be sore and painful, so the child may be reluctant to walk or may tire easily; the child's walk may look different (waddling)
- skeletal deformities – thickening of the ankles, wrists and knees, bowed legs, soft skull bones and, rarely, bending of the spine
- dental problems – including weak tooth enamel, delay in teeth coming through and increased risk of cavities
- poor growth and development – if the skeleton doesn't grow and develop properly, the child will be shorter than average
- fragile bones – in sev
