Resembling cigarette packet warnings, the ads highlight dangers and urge people to email MPs
Mumsnet has launched a campaign to introduce a ban on social media for under-16s featuring health warnings in the style of those on cigarette packets.
The deliberately provocative national advertising campaign calls for all social media to be banned for children under the age of 16. The images on billboards and social media make a number of stark statements related to health.
Continue reading...BPA, a synthetic chemical used in production of plastics, found in baby products made by three big European brands
A chemical linked to impaired sexual development, obesity and cancer has been found in baby dummies manufactured by three big European brands.
Dummies made by the Dutch multinational Philips, the Swiss oral health specialists Curaprox and the French toy brand Sophie la Girafe were found to contain bisphenol A (BPA), according to laboratory testing by dTest, a Czech consumer organisation. Philips said they had carried out subsequent testing and found no BPA, while Sophie la Girafe said the amount found was insignificant.
Continue reading...Parentkind charity also says 33% of parents of children with special educational needs reported financial strain
One in three parents have sought a special needs assessment for their child, according to a survey that reveals a surge in demand for special needs support in schools across the UK.
The figures were released amid mounting apprehension in England over national plans to reform special needs provision amid rising costs and a severe shortage of dedicated special school places.
Continue reading...Cheap ultra-processed food behind rise in overweight children, with one in 10 now obese globally, says Unicef
More children around the world are obese than underweight for the first time, according to a UN report that warns ultra-processed junk food is overwhelming childhood diets.
There are 188 million teenagers and school-age children with obesity – one in 10 – Unicef said, affecting health and development and bringing a risk of life-threatening diseases.
Continue reading...Report omits limiting pesticides and ultra-processed foods even as RFK Jr pledges to fight against childhood obesity
The Trump administration released its second Make America Healthy Again (Maha) report, this time on chronic illnesses in children, confirming a leaked report from last month that the administration would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on pesticides and ultra-processed foods.
On Tuesday, the Make America Healthy Again commission published a 20-page report that attempts a balance for the priorities of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s supporters with the interests of influential farming corporations. It also urges an overhaul of the nation’s vaccine injury system and tighter oversight of certain prescriptions.
Continue reading...Children can buy pouches legally as they are not regulated as a specific tobacco or nicotine product
Nicotine pouches are being legally sold to children and are being made appealing to them with special flavours and packaging mimicking sweets, a trading standards body has said.
In June, it became illegal for single-use vapes to be sold in England to tackle their widespread use by children. However, there is currently no legislation that restricts the age at which you can buy nicotine pouches.
Continue reading...Two fathers tell education secretary they will seek judicial review in bid for statutory ban to safeguard children
Two fathers plan to take legal action against the government in an attempt to get smartphones banned in schools in England.
Will Orr-Ewing and Pete Montgomery wrote to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, on Friday warning that they would seek a judicial review. They argue that current guidance, which allows headteachers to decide how smartphones are used, is unlawful and unsafe for children.
Continue reading...Regulator tells Sally Westcott to pull product that allegedly has undeclared levels of prescription-only melatonin
An NHS manager has been stopped from selling children’s gummies allegedly laced with undeclared levels of a prescription-only sleeping drug, the Guardian can reveal.
Magnesium glycinate gummies for children who have trouble sleeping have been sold since March last year by Nutrition Ignition, an Epsom-based company owned by Sally Westcott, whose other job is a clinical therapy lead at Epsom and St Helier NHS trust.
Continue reading...The popular YouTuber has received pushback for speaking out on behalf of children affected by war and famine
Ms Rachel, the children’s entertainer and educator whose YouTube videos have been watched by millions of families around the world, said she is willing to risk her career to keep advocating for suffering children in Gaza.
In an interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station, Ms Rachel, whose full name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, said she had received pushback for speaking out to raise awareness of the situation in Gaza, where more than 54,000 people have been killed in Israel’s ongoing military assault.
Continue reading...Meeting will hear how exposure to verbal abuse leads to biological changes and can make mental ill-health likelier
Being shouted at by their parents reshapes children’s brains and makes them more likely to have mental ill-health and struggle to maintain friendships, MPs will hear on Monday.
Verbal abuse by adults can leave children unable to enjoy pleasure and seeing the world as threatening, experts in child development and mental health will tell a meeting at Westminster.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Price of importing drugs for a Paris and Birmingham study has almost quadrupled to £175,000
British clinical trials of revolutionary cancer treatments are being derailed by red tape and extra costs caused by Brexit, according to a report obtained by the Guardian.
These two examples illustrate how the UK’s departure from the EU is harming UK cancer research, leaving patients in limbo and unable to access pioneering treatments.
Continue reading...Advertising on snacks rises 26% compared with last year, months before restrictions on promoting unhealthy food come into force
Big food brands dramatically increased their spending on advertising last year, months before new junk food regulations aiming to curb Britain’s obesity crisis are due to come into force, the Observer can reveal.
Food companies spent an extra £420m in 2024, an increase of 26% year on year that coincided with a bumper 12 months for sales of snack foods. Shoppers bought an extra 45.4m packs of chocolate, cakes and crisps from the top-selling brands.
Continue reading...UCL team is inviting parents to share their experiences, as age at which children in west acquire the skill rises
Storybooks about potties, underpants featuring superheroes, rewards for doing a wee: toilet training is a rite of passage for any child. But with the average age of toilet training steadily creeping upwards, scientists are now hoping to crack the question of which methods are most effective.
A team at University College London is inviting people from across the world to share their experiences and techniques as part of the Big Toilet Project. The ultimate aim is to uncover evidence that could help parents toilet train children earlier and reduce the massive contribution that disposable nappies make to landfill waste.
Continue reading...Surgeons who worked in Gaza fear disease, malnutrition and eradication of healthcare will reverberate for decades
British doctors who worked in Gaza during the war have issued dire predictions over the long-term health of Palestinian civillians, warning that large numbers will continue to die.
The prevalence of infectious disease and multiple health problems linked to malnutrition, alongside the destruction of hospitals and killing of medical experts, meant mortality rates among Palestinians in Gaza would remain high after the cessation of Israeli shelling.
Continue reading...International research also reveals conscientious or agreeable children are likely to receive preferential treatment
As Philip Larkin once noted, your mum and dad have a lasting effect on you. Now, researchers have revealed which siblings in a family are more likely to be favoured: it is bad news for sons.
Researchers have found daughters, older children and those who are more conscientious or agreeable are likely to receive preferential treatment.
Continue reading...Guidelines for food manufacturers are voluntary and cover packaged processed food for children under two years old
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued some new voluntary guidelines for baby food manufacturing companies in an effort to reduce levels of lead in some processed baby foods.
The new guidelines state that baby food manufacturers should include no more than 10 parts per billion (ppb) of lead in foods such as yoghurt, custard, pudding and a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and meats. For single-ingredient root vegetables and dry cereals, the guideline is set at no more than 20ppb.
Continue reading...Families placed in hotels in England are being forced to live on snack foods, putting young people’s health at risk
Homeless children placed in hotels are developing rickets and other diet-related health problems because their parents lack anywhere to cook.
The Magpie Project, which works with homeless mothers in the east London borough of Newham, where more households are living in temporary accommodation than anywhere in the country, said families living in hotels were eating an unhealthy diet of takeaways and snack foods because they had no cooking facilities or anywhere to store fresh produce.
Continue reading...Child safety experts say similar move in Britain would penalise young people for the failings of tech companies
Child safety experts have warned the UK government against enacting an Australian-style social media ban for children under 16, which they called a “retrograde step” that would “do more harm than good”.
On Thursday, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under-16s from using social media platforms. The move was supported by a large majority of the Australian public – but academics, politicians and child rights groups said it could backfire, driving teenagers to the dark web, or make them feel more isolated.
Continue reading...Consultant who raised concerns says there could have been earlier victims she has not been convicted of killing
Lucy Letby was likely to have harmed more babies than those she has been convicted of murdering on a hospital neonatal unit, a senior doctor has told a public inquiry.
Dr Stephen Brearey, a consultant paediatrician who raised concerns about the nurse, told the Thirlwall inquiry he believed Letby “didn’t start becoming a killer” in June 2015 and that she may have had earlier victims.
Continue reading...Campaigners want ministers to overhaul rules to outlaw snacks that contain up to 12 teaspoons of sugar
Schools in England should be banned from giving pupils cakes or biscuits as part of their lunch because they contain so much sugar, food campaigners say.
They want ministers to overhaul the rules that guide schools on the nutritional content of the meals they serve to outlaw such sugary snacks.
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