Children’s Commissioner, April 2019
This report looks at the amount spent on “low-level” mental health support for children in England. “Low-level” mental health services are preventative and early intervention services for treating problems like anxiety and depression or eating disorders, such as support provided by school nurses or counsellors, drop-in centres or online counselling services. The report reveals that local areas, which included both local authorities and NHS spending, were allocated a total of £226 million for low-level mental health services in 2018/19, just over £14 per child. The report also found large variations between geographical areas in the funding available, and where spending on services has fallen locally it has been driven by reduced spending by local authorities.
Click here to view the full report.
Category: Child Health
Keeping kids safe: improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation
Children’s Commissioner for England, March 2019
This report estimates there are 27,000 children in England who identify as a gang member, only a fraction of whom are known to children’s services. It recommends that the government needs to make child criminal exploitation a national priority, and lay out clear expectations about the role of all organisations working with children – including the police, schools, children’s services and NHS bodies. There also needs to be more support from the NHS, including better mental health support for children at risk of gang membership and exclusion.
Click here to view the full report.
First 1000 days of life
Health and Social Care Committee, February 2019
This report calls on the Government to produce a long-term, cross-Government strategy for the first 1000 days of life, setting goals to reduce adverse childhood experiences, improve school readiness and reduce infant mortality and child poverty. The report also calls for the Government’s Healthy Child Programme to be revised, improved and given greater impetus. The Committee recommends that the programme should be expanded to focus on the health of the whole family, begin before conception, deliver a greater continuity of care for children, parents and families during this period and extend visits beyond age 2½ years.
Click here to view the full report.
Talking to your children about healthy internet use
Mental Health Foundation, February 2019
This guide provides advice to parents, carers and teachers on how to talk to children about internet use to help minimise the negative impact on children, while encouraging healthy internet use to maximise the benefits.
Click here to view the guide.
UK CMO commentary on screen time and social media map of reviews
Department of Health and Social Care, February 2019
This report outlines the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) commentary on research that was done on screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. The report includes their advice for parents and carers, and their recommendations for other stakeholders.
Click here to view the report.
Impact of social media and screen-use on young people’s health
The House of Commons Select Science and Technology Committee, January 2019
This report provides the findings of an inquiry examining whether the growing use of social media, and screens, among children is healthy or harmful. It looks at the evidence base for such claims, and whether any new measures or controls are required. The report highlights the benefits of social media, while also revealing the potential risks children face when accessing social media, and suggests what can be done to protect young users when they are online.
Click here to view the full report.
The next generation: how intergenerational interaction improves life chances of children and young people
United for All Ages, January 2019
This report looks at how intergenerational interaction can have benefits for children and young people who currently face a growing crisis of confidence, loneliness and anxiety, often fearful about the future, fragmented families, segregated by age, with cuts in services and financial support. The report finds that interaction between older and younger people can help address these issues – starting at an early age with nurseries and care homes linking, through schools, colleges and universities, to mentoring and community projects.
Click here to view the full report.
Childhood obesity: time for action report – government response
Department of Health and Social Care, January 2019
This command paper sets out the government’s response to the conclusions and recommendations in the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s report ‘Childhood obesity: Time for action’.
Click here to view the policy paper.
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry – February 2019
The February issue of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry has been published. This issue includes articles on the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage, the effects of cesarean delivery and antibiotic use in early childhood on risk of later attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and developmental changes in longitudinal associations between academic achievement and psychopathological symptoms from late childhood to middle adolescence.
Click here to view the table of contents.
Click here to request an article from the Library.
State of Child Health: Two Years On
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, January 2019
This report provides and update on progress made against the policy recommendations in the RCPCH State of Child Health 2017 report. The RCPCH congratulates the Government on its commitment to child health, commending them on bold pledges in areas such as obesity, mental health and the integration of children’s health services. However, the report also shows that England continues to lag behind other Western European countries on a range of child health outcomes including reducing child poverty and inequality, infant mortality, tobacco and alcohol control, and breastfeeding.
Click here to view the full report.