Child welfare charity Kids Company appears to have lifted the lid on ‘Dickensian’ levels of poverty among children in in Camden. The borough has become the worst for malnutrition in London, with such cases having gone up by 900% in the last five years, reaching a high of 53 in 2012/2013. Elsewhere, reported cases across the rest of the country have, on average, nearly doubled in the same period.
The factors ascribed to this desperate state of affairs include increased unemployment, stagnating wages and rising food prices. The head of research at the charity has gone on record as saying ‘malnutrition is one of our biggest challenges… we’ve had to reach out to the public to help feed the 3,000 London children we see a week…kids aren’t even getting the basic vitamins they need.’ As vulnerable people are swept up in the ‘cost of living crisis,’ Camden’s elderly residents also form those at risk. Camden Council has admitted that the issue of malnutrition is a ‘high priority’.