Category Archives: Children’s health

One in 52 Blackpool children in care as poverty soars in north of England

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£25bn of public money would have been saved between 2019 and 2023 if north had same care entry rates as south, report says

One in every 52 children in Blackpool are in care compared with one in 140 across England, leading to calls for more to be done to urgently tackle the widening north-south divide, brought on by “decades of underinvestment”.

Nine in every thousand children are in care in the north, compared with six in the rest of England, according to a report by Health Equity North.

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Teasing children about weight increases risk of self-stigma as adults, study finds

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Research reveals ‘long-lasting effects’ caused by pressure from parents, families, bullies and the media

Parents who tease their children about their weight are putting them at greater risk of feeling bad about their bodies decades later, regardless of whether they grow up to have obesity or not, a groundbreaking study has found.

Thirteen-year-olds who felt pressure from family members to shed pounds and endured weight-based teasing showed higher levels of internalised weight stigma when they turned 31, according to research by the University of Bristol published on Tuesday in the Lancet Regional Health Europe journal.

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Comic-themed bibs contaminated with harmful PFAS, California lawsuit alleges

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Suit claims bibs, produced by Bumkins, leaves babies exposed to high levels of ‘forever chemicals’ and do not have warning labels

DC and Marvel comic-themed baby and toddler bibs are contaminated with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, leaving kids exposed to carcinogens that can easily be ingested, a new California lawsuit alleges.

Among others, the suit names the bibs’ US producer and Amazon as defendants. Under Proposition 65, products sold in California that contain PFOA, a highly toxic PFAS compound that was phased out of production in the US, must at a minimum contain a warning.

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Free school meals ‘cut obesity and help reading skills’ in England, study finds

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Labour MPs call to extend provision to every primary pupil in England after study finds health and learning improve

Labour is facing calls from MPs to back the provision of free school meals for all primary school children in England, after a new study found evidence that it reduces obesity and boosts reading skills.

Levels of obesity were reduced by 7% to 11% among reception children in the four London boroughs that have already adopted the policy, according to the study seen by the Observer. For children in year six, who had been given free school meals for their entire time in primary school, there was a 5-8% reduction.

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Disposable vapes to be banned in UK as part of drive to curb youth vaping

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Plans to make vaping less appealing also to include restricting fruity flavours and introducing plain packaging

Ministers are to ban disposable vapes as part of a UK-wide drive to curb youth vaping.

The government is also seeking to make vaping less appealing to children by restricting sweet and fruity flavours, introducing plain packaging and making displays less visible in shops, under newly announced powers. The changes are expected to come into effect towards the end of this year or early 2025.

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Children living near green spaces ‘have stronger bones’

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Bone strength is set in childhood so better park access could prevent fractures in older people, study finds

Children with more green space near their homes have significantly stronger bones, a study has found, potentially leading to lifelong health benefits.

Scientists found that the children living in places with 20-25% more natural areas had increased bone strength that was equivalent to half a year’s natural growth.

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Starmer to embrace ‘nanny state’ with plan for toothbrushing in schools

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Labour leader hits out at perceived criticism as he attacks Tory record on child health

Keir Starmer has said he is “up for the fight” of defending the “nanny state” as he announced plans to improve child health under a Labour government, including supervised toothbrushing in schools.

The Labour leader said that children were “probably the biggest casualty” of the Tories’ sticking-plaster approach to politics over the past 14 years, adding that, if the government were a parent, they could be charged with neglect.

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Great Ormond Street to look at home air pollution when diagnosing illnesses

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Pioneering initiative to consider children’s addresses after coroner ruled air pollution a factor in death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, nine

Doctors at Great Ormond Street are being encouraged to consider air pollution levels at their patients’ home addresses when assessing the causes of their illnesses, under an innovative pilot scheme.

Data showing the average annual air pollution rates at patients’ postcodes has been embedded in patients’ electronic files, so that clinicians can help families understand whether their child has been exposed to elevated risk.

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Tory MP says most struggling children in his area are ‘products of crap parents’

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Bury North MP James Daly makes remark while outlining what New Conservatives group stands for

A Conservative MP has claimed most children who struggle in his constituency are the “products of crap parents”.

James Daly, the MP for Bury North, was outlining what the New Conservatives group of MPs stood for when he presented his perspective on how important a family unit is in giving children “stability”.

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Health of England’s children at risk from policy inaction on obesity, report finds

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Exclusive: Officially commissioned research lays out effects of shelving anti-obesity pledges

Children in England are at risk of diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems because ministers have shelved anti-obesity policies until 2025, according to a damning report commissioned by the government.

The independent report says that ultra-processed foods (UPF) and products high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) have become “normalised” in children’s diets, with poorer parents powerless to curb them.

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England heads for obesity disaster as minister frets about nanny state

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Government has shelved policies that could have helped to change landscape weighted in favour of unhealthy food options

Less than three weeks into her new role as health secretary, Victoria Atkins left health campaigners aghast when she suggested her approach to tackling obesity would largely focus on dietary advice.

Obesity is a devastating public health problem harming millions of people in the UK that will never be resolved by tips on what to eat and what to avoid. Two in three adults are overweight or obese and the problem costs £100bn a year.

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China supplies data to WHO about clusters of respiratory illness

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Epidemiologists say wave in north, particularly among children, may be partly caused by ‘immunity debt’

Chinese health authorities have provided the requested data on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children, and have not detected any unusual or novel pathogens, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

The WHO had asked China for more information on Wednesday after groups including the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in north China.

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Lack of clean drinking water for 95% of people in Gaza threatens health crisis

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Polluted water supplies and salty groundwater are making people ill, with UN warning of threat of child deaths from dehydration

Palestinians who fled to southern Gaza, after warnings from Israel to leave their homes, are standing in line for hours to get contaminated water they believe is making them ill.

Long queues of people waiting to fill jerry cans are now ubiquitous across the territory as water becomes increasingly scarce, a result of restrictions on water and power imposed by Israel.

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Captain of Thai cave football team took his own life at UK school, coroner rules

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Inquest finds death of Duangphet Phromthep, 17, could not have been foreseen or prevented

The captain of the Thai football team who were trapped in a cave for several days in 2018 took his own life while at school in the UK, a coroner has ruled.

Duangphet Phromthep died at Kettering general hospital on 14 February, two days after being found unconscious at Brooke House College in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

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Teachers deride Starmer’s plan for supervised toothbrushing in schools

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Labour leader’s pledge for English primaries as part of a wider dental plan labelled ‘window dressing’ by union chief

School leaders have accused Labour of “window dressing” after Keir Starmer pledged to introduce supervised toothbrushing for young children in England’s primary schools.

While the policy has long been supported by the dentistry profession as a way of curbing decay, headteachers said it was not appropriate for their staff to check whether pupils had cleaned their teeth.

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Scandal grows over children’s spinal surgery in Ireland

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After focus on work of one Dublin surgeon, expert report sparks wider review of paediatric orthopaedics

Paediatricians and health executives in Dublin were aware that a leading children’s hospital in the city was using “unauthorised, uncertified” medical implants in surgery, a top health official has said.

Ireland is facing a growing scandal over paediatric spinal surgery. An independent investigation found that 19 children with spina bifida suffered serious complications after they were operated on by one surgeon at Temple Street hospital. One child was readmitted to the operating theatre 33 times after her initial operation.

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Ivani’s genetic disease is worsening as she ages. Her mother hopes Australia’s new biobank will help

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Exclusive: National Muscle Disease Bio-databank will store blood test and skin biopsy samples from children with diseases such as muscular dystrophy

Bindu Shree remembers her daughter Ivani had “such a nice plump face as a baby”, but now she sees gravity pulling down her four-year-old’s cheeks as the muscles in her face become weaker.

When Ivani was diagnosed with a genetic muscle disease at four months, Shree’s first response was to ask the doctors, “What’s the treatment? What can we do to help her?”

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Children worry more about rising prices than environment or crime, study finds

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Four in five young people aged 10 to 17 have significant concerns about impact of cost of living crisis on their families

Children and young people have become significantly more concerned about rising prices and their family having enough money than about the environment or crime, research has found.

One in 10 children aged 10 to 17 are unhappy with their lives, according to a study by the Children’s Society.

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Ban on single-use vapes in UK may ‘flood market with illegal products’

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Ministers said to be planning to legislate against the devices because of concerns about children’s health

Leading doctors and councils have welcomed reports that ministers are preparing to ban single-use vapes in the UK, but others have expressed fears a ban could lead to a “flood” of illegal products on the market.

The reports of plans to stop the sale of disposable e-cigarettes come as fears grow about their environment impact and the health risks they pose to the large number of teenagers taking up vaping.

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Schools concrete crisis is risk to pupils’ mental health, headteacher warns

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Leader of a secondary school in Essex warns upheaval could have similar negative impact to that caused by Covid lockdowns

A headteacher whose 830 pupils must learn semi-remotely for at least a term because of the schools concrete crisis has warned that the upheaval could cause a recurrence of the negative mental health impact of Covid lockdowns.

James Saunders, the leader of Honywood school in Coggeshall, Essex, fears that year-seven students entering their first term at secondary school could face future struggles after the Department for Education last week ordered the closure of 22 classrooms as part of a nationwide safety alert.

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