Children under five in the UK are at risk of suffering from lifelong mental health conditions which could be prevented with the right care and support, a report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists has said.
The report calls on the Government to prioritise the mental health of babies and young children.
It says early action is vital, given half of mental health conditions arise by age 14 and many of these start to develop in the first years of life. Most babies, under fives and their parents do not receive the support they need to address these issues both during and after pregnancy. Mental health services are under-resourced and inconsistent commissioning is putting children’s immediate and long-term mental health at significant risk.
In England prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 100,000 (5.5 per cent) of two to four-year-olds struggled with anxiety, behavioural disorders and neurodevelopmental disorders. Globally, an estimated one in five (20.1 per cent) of children aged between one and seven years have a mental health condition.