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Homeless families in Hackney
1Department of Public Health Medicine, City and Hackney Health Authority, St Leonard's Hospital, London.
Insights
Infants and school-children in temporary accommodations, like Bed and Breakfast (B&B) hotels, show impaired health, including low birth weight and developmental issues. This highlights concerns about prolonged stays in such environments for vulnerable children.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
- Social Medicine
Background:
- Temporary accommodation, such as Bed and Breakfast (B&B) hotels, is utilized by vulnerable populations.
- The health and developmental outcomes for children residing in these settings are not well-documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the health status of infants and school-children living in temporary accommodation.
- To compare health indicators between children in temporary housing and local resident controls.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study analyzing medical records of children in Hackney and Tower Hamlets.
- Inclusion of infants and school-aged children residing in temporary accommodation (B&B hotels) and local resident controls.
Main Results:
- High proportion of low birth weight (10-25%) observed across groups, with 25% of B&B infants weighing under 2,500g.
- A third of infants in B&B accommodation experienced growth below the 10th centile.
- School-children in B&B hotels exhibited poorer health (30% not normal) and development (10% not normal) compared to local residents, with lower immunisation rates.
Conclusions:
- Children in temporary accommodation, particularly B&B hotels, face significant health and developmental challenges.
- The findings raise serious questions about the suitability of prolonged stays in temporary accommodation for high-risk children.
- While immunisation rates were good for infants, they were poor for school-children in B&B settings.
Abstract:
A retrospective study of medical records in Hackney and Tower Hamlets showed that the health of infants and school-children in temporary accommodation was impaired. Perhaps the most striking result was the high proportion of low birthweight in all four groups (10-25%). Of particular concern is the finding that 25% of babies living in Bed and Breakfast (B&B) hotels were born with a weight less than 2,500 g. Amongst other findings was that a third of the infants 'born and bred' in B&B accommodation and their Tower Hamlets controls had been below the 10th centile at some time in their lives. The immunisation rates, however, were good. In the study of school-children, the school medical officer found that 30% of the children in B&B hotels were considered not to be in normal health compared with 20% of Finsbury Park residents. Ten percent of the children in B&B were considered not to have normal development and 47% of these had been referred for further investigation compared with 25% of the local residents. In contrast with the infants, the immunisation rates were poor. While it is not possible to infer any causal relationship from this study, it must be questioned whether these high risk children should be living in temporary accommodation for prolonged periods of time.