Hunger and malnutrition contributing to rising number of deaths, figures suggest

Hunger and malnutrition are contributing to an increasing number of deaths in England, official figures suggest, prompting calls for David Cameron to take action.

Shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne insisted it is “outrageous” that people are still dying from malnutrition in modern Britain, adding the Prime Minister must tackle the root causes.

The UK Statistics Authority released figures to Mr Gwynne showing malnutrition was the underlying cause in 73 deaths registered in 2014 – up from 67 in 2013 and the highest since 75 in 2009.

The 10-year death total was reported as 664, with 338 of those between 2010 and 2014, compared with 326 from 2005 to 2009.

Death certificates registered in England which mentioned malnutrition or the effects of hunger numbered 375 in 2014, compared with 392 in 2013 and 255 in 2005, the data adds.

From 2010 to 2014 there were 1,817 death certificates mentioning these factors, compared with 1,535 from 2005 to 2009, with the 10-year figure amounting to 3,352.

Mr Gwynne told the Press Association: “It’s outrageous that in 21st century Britain people are still dying from malnutrition.

“Under David Cameron’s Government, too many families have been left struggling to make ends meet and having to choose between paying the bills and putting food on the table.

“It’s little wonder this is leaving people eating less and eating less healthily.

“David Cameron needs to stop failing the nation’s health and start taking action to tackle the root causes of malnutrition in England.”

UK National Statistician John Pullinger, in his reply to Mr Gwynne, said World Health Organisation guidance requires death certificates to record only those conditions that contributed directly to death.

He said: “Medical practitioners and coroners are not supposed to record all of the diseases or conditions present at or before death.

“Whether a condition contributed is a matter for their clinical judgment.

“Malnutrition or ‘effects of hunger’ may be recorded as a factor contributing directly to a death where this was a complication of a different underlying cause, such as cancer of the stomach.

“Malnutrition may be recorded as the underlying cause of death, but this is a rare occurrence.

“The ‘effects of hunger’, as the effects of malnutrition may sometimes be reported on a death certificate, are never recorded as the underlying cause of death, because it is defined by the International Classification of Diseases as a ‘secondary cause’ only.

“Consequently, deaths with any mention of either of these causes on the death certificate have been provided.”

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