Toothbrushes branded 'luxury item' for children
A leading doctor has described the state of children's dental health as a "national disgrace"
A leading doctor has warned toothbrushes are becoming a "luxury item" for some families, as she described the state of children's dental health as a "national disgrace".
President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr Camilla Kingdon, said the cost of living crisis was exacerbating the problem of children with rotten teeth.
Tooth decay is the leading reason for hospital admissions in England, among five to nine year olds.
In an interview with The BMJ, she said: "The state of children's teeth... is actually a national disgrace.
"The commonest reason for a child having a general anaesthetic in this country is dental clearance.
"That's a terrible admission of failure."
She added: "It reflects diet and it reflects a family's ability to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste, because when you're struggling to feed your family, that becomes a luxury item.
"It is simple but very visible, alarming evidence of how the cost of living crisis is impacting children's health."
Dr Kingdon, who has been a paediatrician in the NHS for almost 30 years, said that the use of food banks is now "unbelievably common" among the families she sees.
On financial pressures facing families, she added: "People cannot afford to take the time off work - I don't ever remember a time when we often had many consecutive days when parents couldn't visit their unwell baby in my neonatal unit."
In the wide-ranging interview, Dr Kingdon also highlighted the UK's poor track record on asthma among children.
"The UK has some of the worst asthma outcomes and some of the highest rates of death due to asthma in children in all of Europe," she told the journal.
"Of course, it's complex, but... we've got some of the worst housing stock in Europe.
"If you've got a child who's got a propensity to asthma, and you're living in damp accommodation where the heating doesn't work, where you've got mould on the walls, where the route you have to walk your children to school is extremely polluted, then we know that all these factors interplay to make that child's asthma much more problematical."
She cited some initiatives the Government could introduce to help struggling families, such as expanding the provision of free school meals and increasing the value of healthy start vouchers to keep up with inflation.
She also called on ministers to publish a white paper on tackling health inequalities.
Dr Kingdon added: "I'm not pretending this is easy.
"Health inequalities are deeply entrenched, and it is going to take many, many different ways to tackle them. But we need to start somewhere, and there needs to be an intention."
The cost of living crisis is affecting many:
Interest rates and inflation go up
Inflation rose by 8.8% in the 12 months to January 2023, down from 9.2% in December 2022. With interest rates also rising to 4%, those saving money will earn more interest on their finances, whilst those paying mortgages would pay more interest to the bank.
Energy bills
The price of energy went up incredibly as the cost of living crisis hit, with the gas price spike caused largely by the war in Ukraine. The price cap - which is set by an independent regulator to help offset costs onto customers - was set to rise to £3,549 for an average home in October but a price freeze from the government restricted the typical bill to £2,500. That's still an increase of 27% from the previous energy cap and as it's a cap on unit cost, the more energy you use the higher your bill will be.
Food prices
The cost of a weekly shop also has gone up as a result of the cost of living crisis. As a result of the war in Ukraine, a number of products including cooking oils and wheat have been disrupted. This means that several products are now considerably more expensive, driving bills up for customers.
Prices at the pumps
The average cost of petrol has also rose to unprecedented levels. Supply lines for petrol have been thrown into doubt as a result of the war in Ukraine, as Russia is a large export partner for gas, oil and fuel. In April 2022, the average price for a litre of petrol on the forecourt was 160.2p, whilst a litre of diesel would cost 170.5p. By late June 2022 the price had risen to an average of 190.9p for a litre of unleaded and 198.9p for a litre of diesel. In March 2023 the price wass on average of 147.03 in petrol and 167.04 in diesel.
Average cost of filling up a car with petrol hits £100
On 9th June 2022, the average cost of filling up a car with petrol hit £100 for the first time ever. Diesel had already hit that milestone. It comes as the cost of fuel hit a record high of one pound eighty a litre. The 2p rise was the biggest daily jump in 17 years. Prices have dropped by at least 20p per litre since the high point.