CHILDREN living in deprived areas of Scotland are twice as likely to experience poor health, according to a new report.
An independent review carried out by the charity, the Health Foundation, in collaboration with organisations including Glasgow University and the Fraser of Allander Institute, found large and sometimes widening health inequalities among children living in the most and least deprived communities in Scotland.
Its report, Health Inequalities in Scotland, found that children in the poorest fifth of areas are at least twice as likely to suffer obesity and infant mortality or to miss out on childhood immunisations.
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The research on health inequalities in children is one of several pieces of analysis due to be released over the coming months, ahead of a final report by the Health Foundation in early 2023.
The interim findings show that one in 10 five-year-olds in Scotland has been at risk of childhood obesity since the start of the 21st century.
However, this has been rising over the past decade in more deprived areas and falling in the least deprived.
By 2019/20, obesity was around 6% among the least deprived five-year-olds compared to roughly 13% in the most deprived. In 2001/2 there was no gap.
A similar story of widening inequality over the past ten years is also seen for infant mortality and childhood immunisations.
By 2016-18, infant mortality was 2.6 times higher for babies born to women in the most deprived areas compared those the least deprived mothers, compared to a difference of 1.8 times in 2000-02.
On uptake of the MMR vaccine, the percentage of 24-month-olds who had not received a first dose was 2.4 times higher in the most deprived communities compared to the least - up from a difference of 1.4 times in 2010.
The situation is not entirely negative, however.
Smoking in pregnancy, breastfeeding and child development all show signs of progress, but inequalities in these outcomes persist.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Anna Pearce, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow’s MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, said:
“This widening of inequality in some areas of children’s health, including the risk of childhood obesity, is worrying, especially with families’ financial circumstances expected to worsen.
“We know that these inequalities are not going to be resolved by solely targeting people’s behaviours.
"For example, inequalities in childhood obesity are likely to be driven not by differences in children’s physical activity levels (which do not vary by deprivation), but by differences in diet and a healthy balanced diet is considerably more expensive calorie for calorie and therefore increasingly inaccessible to those on the lowest incomes.
“This is a national problem for Scotland, and the data show a growing inequality gap.”
David Finch, assistant director at the Health Foundation, added: “Our review aims to fully understand all the factors which cause health inequality in Scotland, and to provide policy makers with a foundation to improve the outcomes for the sections of the population who are struggling the most.
“This stark and concerning data on childhood obesity and other childhood inequalities – shows the importance of supporting good health and tackling inequalities for children from the youngest ages and for their families.
“The evidence pointing to nutrition as the driver, rather than physical activity, requires us to examine the links between the health of our children and cost of living, including access to healthy food – a particular concern with food prices rising by 13% in the year to August.
“We hope our review will create a foundation for improving the health of people across Scotland.”
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This work, which is also being undertaken in collaboration with Nesta in Scotland and the Diffley Partnership, was funded by the Health Foundation.
The MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences unit is also funded by the Medical Research Council and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.
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