Physical punishment is the most common form of violence against children and a major concern from both children’s rights and public health perspectives. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated unequivocally that protection from physical punishment in all settings, including in the family home, is a basic human right of…
Could strong teenage friendships be a route to healthier weight in later life?
Obesity is a major concern for policymakers and society more widely. In the United Kingdom rates of obesity have doubled since 1990, the House of Commons heard recently, with two thirds of adults carrying excess weight and a quarter classified as obese. In the United States, rates have trebled in three decades. We know that…
Covid and young carers – a double whammy?
For some time there has been concern about the mental and physical health effects of being a young carer. Research has shown these young people are more likely to come from lower income households and to have less well-qualified parents in poorer paid jobs. Those providing more than 20 hours’ care per week suffer greater…
Racism must be targeted for a healthy equitable future for children
Lord Darzi’s recent review of the health service reported that while the median age of death was 62 for white people, it was 40 for Black people, 33 for Asian people and just 30 for those from a mixed race background. The report, which focused mainly on NHS reform, was followed by calls for the…
Physical punishment helpline calls triple in a year
The NSPCC is calling on the new UK Government to follow Scotland and Wales and end the use of physical punishment of children in England. It comes as the organisation’s physical punishment helpline saw calls triple in a single year. Joanna Barrett, Associate Head of Policy (Devolved Nations) at NSPCC outlines the latest evidence that’s…
Proper support for young adult carers is long overdue
June 10th marks the start of Carers Week in the UK. This year’s awareness-raising week takes place just over a decade from when the Care Act received Royal Assent. . The Act promised that people who looked after family and friends due to disability, illness or addiction would no longer have their needs ignored and…
Childhood obesity post-pandemic: a debt to society
In 2023 the Chief Executive of the British Heart Foundation warned the Government not to put the brakes on its anti-obesity policies, adding that the resulting heart and circulatory disease would cost the economy £58m per year. Charmaine Griffiths said that after a flurry of early activity, a ‘bold strategy’ to address obesity was now…
Urgent need for action to support carers’ mental health
Health leaders are being urged to make policy changes to safeguard the mental health of unpaid carers as new evidence reveals the negative effects of taking on the role – including those who do so at a young age. The research is featured in a new Parliamentary report which also highlights an ‘urgent need’ for…
Do caregivers’ children reach milestones earlier?
The number of looked-after children in England has risen significantly in the past three decades, and around three quarters are placed with foster families. Many of those families have children of their own: what are the longer-term effects on them? In this blog Amanda Sacker and colleagues describe research which set out to shed light…
They care! We need to care about them
There have been calls in recent weeks and months for MPs to pledge their support to young carers. Young carers themselves have written to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ask him “to ensure that the needs of children and young people who are caring unpaid for friends and family members are being considered so…