Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title ‘Children have bowed legs’: hunger worse than ever, says Norwich school Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet The Guardian Media type Print Country/Territory United Kingdom Date 21/12/23 Description “Children with teeth falling out, children with bowed legs, in current society – this isn’t the Victorian era. Parents are doing their absolute best, but they’re being marketed deliberately cheap, unhealthy food.”
“It’s really dire at the moment and the health impacts are really wide,” said Dr Sarah Hanson, an associate professor in community health at the University of East Anglia.
“There’s evidence that not getting enough to eat causes low mood and anxiety, and often leads to stricter discipline in households. For children, their behaviour worsens and it has been linked to increased asthma diagnoses, as well as significantly higher use of emergency care.”
She said the health effects of malnutrition needed to be considered “systemically” as it often led to people becoming immunocompromised. “It’s quite astonishing how nutrition cuts across all aspects of health. GP surgeries are all seeing the products of this, that’s why a lot of surgeries are so busy,” Hanson said.
The eastern region where Norfolk sits – known as “Britain’s breadbasket” – still produces nearly 30% of all edible crops in England, and almost half of all homegrown vegetables. “The irony is that Norfolk is such a massive food producer, but people here are going without,” she said.Persons Sarah Hanson