Child hypothermia cases in York says health chief

A report found people were struggling to heat their homes, skipping meals and reducing the amount of nutritious food they bought due to rising food costs

Some children in York have been admitted to hospital with hypothermia amid the cost of living crisis, a public health chief has said.

Director of public health Sharon Stoltz said there had been at least two examples of small infants being taken to hospital with the condition.

She also said they had worries about families struggling to feed newborn children.

The council was looking at what support it could provide, she said.

"We have significant concerns at the moment about families who have chosen to not breastfeed their infants, but to use infant formula that [they] then can't afford to buy," Ms Stoltz said.

It comes as councillors and local health officials discussed Healthwatch York's latest report into the cost of living crisis during a meeting of the health and wellbeing board.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report found people were struggling to heat their homes, skipping meals and reducing the amount of nutritious food they bought due to rising food costs.

This was often resulting in the worsening of existing physical and/or mental health conditions, it said.

Healthwatch manager Sian Balsom told a meeting it was the first time the organisation had felt the need to put a content warning on one of its reports due to its distressing nature.

"I think it is truly remarkable that we are having these conversations and truly awful that so many people in our community are deeply affected by this."

She praised the work of York's voluntary sector in helping people struggling with cost of living.