This is an external cause of death. Deaths from this group of causes result from insufficient food, water or other unspecified privations.

See also Map 2 All homicide, Map 5 All external deaths, and Map 81 Hypothermia.

There are clusters of high SMRs in central London, Edinburgh and the north east of Derbyshire. Scotland tends to have higher rates than the remainder of Britain. Between them, Scotland and London account for 30% of deaths from this cause.

This is not a cause of death that we would expect to see featuring in an atlas of mortality for one of the richest countries of the world at the end of the twentieth century. Yet over the period covered here, 44 people a year – almost one per week – died from hunger, thirst, exposure or neglect.

Perhaps even more sobering is the age distribution, with the age–sex bar chart showing that babies under the age of one are one of the most affected groups. Some were babies who were abandoned at or shortly after birth. Others were simply neglected by their parents.

Among older age groups, these deaths may be a result of self-neglect or neglect by others, arguably neglect by society at large.

All of these deaths are avoidable.