Shelter says too many children are living in damp and unfit homes

It claims that 110,000 children across the region are growing up in a mixture of temporary, cramped or unfit housing.

The findings show poor housing has a devastating impact on children's lives, putting them at up to 25% greater risk of severe ill health and disability.

The government said moving children out of bad housing was an ongoing priority.

The Chance of a Lifetime report also found homeless children up to four times more likely to suffer mental health problems, while those in overcrowded homes were at up to 10 times the risk of contracting meningitis.

'Desperate problems'

Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford were found to have some of the highest numbers of children living in poor housing in England.

Of the 16,035 children in unfit accommodation in South Yorkshire, 10,725 of them live in Sheffield, making it second in the country only to London.

West Yorkshire has 20,701 children living in unfit accommodation and 62,020 staying in overcrowded homes, including 20,009 in Bradford and 17,394 in Leeds.

Elsewhere, North Yorkshire is home to 5,851 children in unfit accommodation while East Yorkshire had 9,078 children living in overcrowded homes.

Shelter is calling for 1,170 new social homes across the region to give homeless and poorly housed children a better future.

Children who grow up in bad housing are robbed of their future chances Lisa Harker, author of the report

Child poverty expert, and author of the report, Lisa Harker said too many children were growing up in "squalid conditions".

"Childhood is a precious time when our experiences shape the adults we become," she said.

"But children who grow up in bad housing are robbed of their future chances by ill-health, educational under-achievement and devastating insecurity."

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "Hundreds of thousands of children have been lifted out of bad housing, thanks to the major programme of refurbishment to council housing since 1997 and we are determined to go further," he said.