THE shocking state of child health in East Lancashire, revealed today in a new report as among the worst in the country, makes grim and depressing reading.

For in 21st Century Britain, thousands of children are suffering from a catalogue of ills.

They live in poor and damp housing, don't get proper food, are more likely to become pregnant in their teens and leave school early with few qualifications.

In all, the findings of the East Lancashire Health Authority's first comprehensive report into child health amount to a grim summary of deprivation now and poor opportunity in the future for droves of children being brought up in conditions that go hand-in-hand with poverty.

But while there are many worthwhile initiatives afoot to address these problems and which promise eventual improvement, inevitably they only go so far.

For as much as there is merit in many of the report's recommendations and the ensuing calls for extra resources -- though this newspaper would balk at fluoridation of the water supply to improve dental health unless it received the public's clear consent -- the root of the problems and their solution lies in lifestyles influenced by poverty and ignorance.

That is why on top of all the efforts aimed directly at improving the health and living conditions, there needs also to be every encouragement for all the initiatives aimed at bringing more jobs and prosperity to our region.

For health and wealth go hand in hand. That fact stands out clearly in this report, where the better-off Ribble Valley is shown to suffer least from all the severe problems that blight child health elsewhere in East Lancashire.

There may be no quick fix to the task of bringing up the rest of our region to the levels of prosperity that bring better lifestyles, achievements and opportunities for increasing numbers, but it is the goal to which we all must keep working.