One in five children across large parts of Kent officially lives in poverty.

The shocking statistics come from the Campaign to End Child Poverty, which claims poverty is getting worse.

In Kent, the constituencies with the highest level of child poverty are North Thanet as well as Sittingbourne and Sheppey - where 23% of children come from a struggling family.

Many other constituencies hover around the one in five level - including Chatham and Aylesford (19%), Dover (20%), Folkestone and Hythe (19%), Gillingham (19%), Gravesham (19%) and South Thanet (21%).

Tonbridge and Malling has the lowest levels of child poverty - with just one in 10 children falling under the poverty line.

In the report, children are classified as being in poverty if they live in families claiming out-of-work benefits or in-work tax credits where their income is less than 60% of the average.

But it says families will often try to hide the extent of their hardship.

A statement in the report says: "Parents will often try and shield their children from some of the impacts of financial hardship and the stigma of 'poverty'.

Click on your area to view child poverty figures

"Sometimes parents will make sacrifices, such as skipping meals, so that they can send their child off to school with a warm coat, or out to play in the same popular brand of trainers that their friends have.

"They do not want their children to feel excluded, or become bullied. But behind the doors of the home, the hardship is often far more visible and many are deeply trapped in debt."

But the coalition government comes under fire in the comprehensive review.

The statement says: "To say that the start made by the coalition in unimpressive would be an understatement. Too much time has been spent on rhetorical debate to reinterpret the previous government’s record and reinterpret what child poverty means.

"Too much time has been lost with delays to the child poverty strategy and establishment of the Child Poverty Commission."

It adds: "While it is fully accepted that the nation now faces incredible challenges reducing thedeficit, this cannot excuse the regressive nature of the path the coalition has chosen.

"It is a political choice whether the cost of balancing the budget falls most heavily on the poorest or the wealthiest."