Deformed 'buggy babies' feel the crippling effect of poor housing

Published on Friday 18 March 2005 01:00

POOR housing and deprivation are helping create a generation of Scottish "buggy babies" crippled and deformed by being left for long periods in pushchairs.

The children have skulls and spines misshapen after being left unsupported in their buggies because the accommodation their family lives in is too cramped or unhygienic to allow the child to crawl about on the floor, according to a new report.

The claims are contained in a survey, Generation Squalor, commissioned by the charity Shelter, which reveals the full extent of Scotland’s homelessness problem and the impact it is having on tens of thousands of children.

The UK-wide report - which was compiled by an independent panel drawn from the arts, media, business and academia, including writer Liz Lochhead - highlighted the sheer physical impact of homelessness, and the existence of so-called "buggy babies".

Professor Phil Hanlon, a public health expert, said of the phenomenon: "This was a theme that came up several times. What emerged was that the ‘buggy baby’ was one manifestation of the wider problem.

"Because of the chaotic nature of this type of living, there are children being sat in their buggies for the first two years of their lives - pacified by having their dummies dipped in sweet liquids - and the shape of their skulls and spines are being influenced by the curve of the canvas.

"The problem of homelessness was brought home to me in that the investigation showed that it was a major element in a complex of problems."

Last year alone, more than 26,500 Scottish children were living in households that were classed as homeless, while more than 70 per cent of social housing in Scotland fails to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. And in rural communities for every three new affordable homes built, 10 were lost.

The evidence given for Scotland focused on Edinburgh, where homelessness has risen by 44 per cent in the past eight years.

Some of the most shocking evidence presented to the Scottish panel was given by Liz Whyte, headteacher of Royston Primary School, Edinburgh: "A few of my children are still lying on mattresses on the floor.

"There was one family, where the wee one came in absolutely delighted because he’s just got a bed. He told everybody, he was so proud. He didn’t realise everyone else had a bed.

"The mental health issues are huge. We have nine-year-olds self-harming. There’s a lot of rocking, fingers in ears, bizarre behaviours. When life’s hard you just withdraw into yourself."

Mrs Whyte also spoke of boys in her school aged 11 talking about suicide, while other children showed autistic-type behaviour.

Liz Nicholson, the director of Shelter Scotland, said that the report was one of the most shocking she had ever read: "I have been working in housing for years and it is one of the most shocking things I’ve encountered since Cathy Come Home was broadcast some 40 years ago.

"It shows that children’s lives are being ruined irrevocably by the houses they are living in," she said.

"I think the ‘buggy babies’ really shocked the panel, not just because of the condition, but because it’s something they saw and heard being repeated and schools are seeing these children coming into the classrooms."

Liz Lochhead said of her experience: "I was shocked to find that in the 21st century we are still leaving thousands of children in Britain to languish in 19th-century conditions."

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said: "The Executive is committed to giving everyone in Scotland access to good quality, warm and affordable housing."

"We recognise that homelessness is a complex problem, which requires long-term, sustainable solutions. That is why we have taken an in-depth look at the issues and have made huge strides with our recent ambitious legislation, which set challenging targets to tackle the problem."