RISING child food poverty in the capital is becoming an “urgent public health crisis,” a charity has warned, as it called on the government to launch a rapid review into the problem. 

London-based child poverty charity the Childhood Trust said children are at risk of malnutrition or worse this winter, with more families experiencing food insecurity amid the cost-of-living crisis. 

A poll commissioned by the trust found that among a random sample of 280 children aged between seven and 16 in the capital, 40 per cent reported being food insecure over the past two months. 
 
The trust’s chief executive Laurence Guiness said: “It is shocking and appalling that food insecurity is now widespread and normalised for a very large minority of children living in London, many of whom were already badly impacted by, and struggling to recover from, the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is an urgent public health crisis and the government should initiate a rapid review into the scale and severity of child food poverty in order to implement measures to prevent children’s health from rapidly deteriorating.”

The charity said its research, carried out between September and November, showed many families are relying on food banks. 

Of the children who said they had experienced not being able to have regular access to enough nutritious food, 10 per cent said they had “many experiences” of food poverty. 

And 15 per cent said they had experienced hunger over the two-month period. Children reported feeling embarrassed or ashamed at their families not being able to afford food.

Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, honorary consultant paediatrician at Whittington NHS Trust, warned that poor diets are linked to a range of health problems in children, impacting brain development, wellbeing and physical growth. 

“As a society in a high-income country, we should be ashamed that so many children are not only suffering from such preventable issues, but also having to deal with the stress of not knowing where their next meal is coming from and yet accepting this as the norm,” she said. 

“We need action now if we are to prevent child inequalities increasing and if we are to have any hope in halting the chronic physical and mental health problems these children may encounter in the years to come.”

The charity is hoping to raise £4 million in seven days through its Christmas Challenge campaign, launched today.