Last updated 09:28, Saturday, 04 October 2008

Many readers will be shocked to learn that there are still areas of Cumbria where more than half of all children are growing up in poverty.

But as today’s News & Star reveals, pockets of extreme deprivation still exist in the north and the west of our county.

Figures from the Campaign to End Child Poverty pinpoint the Sandwith area of Copeland and the Moss Bay area of Workington as the most deprived.

In each of them, seven out of every 10 youngsters belong to low income families, and nearly half are living in households where there are no wages coming in at all.

But they also show that many other areas of Cumbria with high numbers of poor families and high rates of unemployment.

Rising food and oil prices and the credit crunch are forcing all of us to tighten our belts. But some parents are trying to raise a child on less than £10 a day – and can’t tighten theirs any more.

And as public health director Dr John Ashton points out, there is a clear link between being poor and suffering poor health.

So the help the poorest families need is not just financial.

A package of health as well as economic measures is needed to tackle their situation – and give these children a chance.