The study, by the Campaign to End Child Poverty, said the health of poor children is 'a timebomb waiting to go off'. It said that babies born into disadvantaged families are twice as likely to have cerebral palsy, and at birth they weigh 200g less on average than those with wealthier parents.
The data was compiled using figures from separate studies including the Millennium Cohort Study and 'Against All Odds', a report by Shelter.
Poor families were defined as those with an income less than £10,400 a year.
The report coincides with an international study on health inequalities, published today (28 August) by the World Health organisation, which found that a child born in one suburb of Glasgow has a life expectancy 28 years shorter than another child living just 13km away.
Nick Spencer, professor of Child Health at the University of Warwick, and one of the End Child Poverty report authors, said, 'Poverty is now one of the greatest dangers faced by our children. If poverty were an infection then we would be in the midst of a full-scale epidemic.'
The report, 'Intergenerational Links between Child Poverty and Poor Health in the UK', highlights the impact of the 'poverty health cycle' on foetal development, early infancy, health throughout childhood and into adult life.
Download the End Child Poverty report at www.endchildpoverty.org.uk.
Download the WHO report, 'Commission on Social Determinants of Health', at www.who.int/social_determinants/final_report/en/index.html.