'Worrying trend' over health tests

Consumers are jeopardising their health by cutting back on dental and eye tests to save money as the nation struggles with its finances, according to new research.

In a study of more than 1,000 people, pollsters found that 19% are going to the dentist less often and 17% are having eyesight checks less often.

Other tactics to save money included 67% reassessing priorities - giving things up and making sacrifices - and 49% haggling more for the things they want.

Some 34% said they were vigilantly delaying buying things they would previously have bought when they wanted them, while 27% said they were eating less healthily than before the slowdown.

As well as making cutbacks, there was a sharp rise in the proportion of people using their nest egg savings to support everyday expenditure, according to researchers at HPI, the independent market research company.

Juliet Strachan, study author, said: "Our research underlines the scale of cutbacks people are making and the impact spans almost every aspect of life from spending, bills and shopping to health, socialising and diet.

"The increasingly worrying trend though, is that people are focusing less on their own health and welfare, which could store up problems for the future.

"Our tracking study suggests there are a growing number of people that feel squeezed and living on the edge, although there is a silver lining for others."