Warm Well Families: Rotherham Final Report

Living in a cold home harms the health of babies, children and teenagers. Growing up in a cold home can impact on weight gain, development and emotional wellbeing. Living in fuel poverty directly affects people’s ability to afford decent food. The likelihood of suffering from respiratory illnesses such as asthma is more than doubled for children living in a cold home. Teenagers are more likely to participate in risk taking behaviours outside the home and their risk of developing multiple mental health problems is increased by cold homes. Educational achievement can be negatively affected as living in overcrowded or damp housing means children are more likely to miss school. Cold homes are also known to impact on resilience and emotional well-being which will ultimately worsen life chances. Ultimately growing up in cold damp homes will have a real effect on a child’s health, learning and enjoyment of life.