A piece of news that might have slipped under the radar for some in this challenging year is that Scotland became the 60th country in the world to make it illegal to physically punish a child under the age of 16. The law came into force as a result of an evidence review conducted by…
Tag: Children’s Health
Breaking the cycle – how active travel to school could help tackle childhood obesity and inequality
There are a host of reasons, many of them highly publicised in recent years, as to why we should encourage young people to be more physically active. Now a team of London researchers has shown how the time spent travelling to and from school is important in helping children, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds,…
Time to diagnose autism: why earlier diagnosis could be key to children’s wellbeing and happiness
When the Government two years ago launched a review to improve the lives of autistic children, it said it was committed to giving them “the same start in life as any other child”. Key to the review was the development of services that would diagnose autism earlier. A year after it was due to be…
Time to help our children get a move on
World Health Organisation and United States guidelines say adolescents should do at least an hour’s moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day. But a new global study shows eight out of 10 fail to meet that standard – and there is a widening gender gap. Professor Yvonne Kelly and Fran Abrams outline new research revealing worrying trends which…
Might population-wide increases in physical activity reduce socio-economic inequalities in the proportion of children who are overweight?
Just half of children in the UK achieve the World Health Organisation’s targets for daily activity, and in England the Government has set its own strategy to tackle this. But would increased physical activity lead to fewer children being overweight or obese? And would it help to address social inequalities in the proportion of children…
I wanna hold your hand: helping young people prepare for happy healthy relationships
The teenage years are a time for experimenting and for pushing boundaries – particularly when it comes to intimate relationships. Such experimentation is a natural part of growing up. But there are potential risks, too – particularly if these early experiences aren’t positive ones. A new study from Professor Yvonne Kelly from UCL’s Department of Epidemiology…
Teenage depression: The potential pitfalls of too much social media use
A new mobile phone will be in the pockets of many teenagers as they head back to school in the coming days. The period between Xmas and New Year will have been spent signing up for social media apps where they can chat, share photos and videos with friends, all part of the excitement of…
Do children feel better outdoors?
Many of us believe it’s bad for children to spend too much time indoors or looking at screens – but what does research evidence tell us about the possible mental health benefits of interacting with nature? A major new review of the evidence by Suzanne Tillmann and colleagues at Western University and the The Lawson Foundation in…
Taking time out to scroll free
As the Royal Society for Public Health launches its #ScrollFreeSeptember campaign, encouraging people to take a break from social media, Professor Yvonne Kelly from the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies at UCL, discusses new research on the negative impacts of social media use on young people’s health. She explains how the findings point to…
Wheezing: Can breastfeeding for longer make a difference?
Public health bodies put a lot of effort into encouraging mothers to breastfeed, and for good reasons. Successive studies have shown breastfeeding has a range of health benefits, including a lower risk of wheezing illnesses, which can be linked to asthma. But which of these illnesses are most likely to respond? Is a breastfed child…