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Action urged as report shows poverty’s clear link to poor health outcomes in children

Pastoral issues PSHE Pupil wellbeing Mental health Poverty
Children in the poorest parts of the UK are much more likely to be in poor health, be overweight or obese, suffer from asthma, have poorly managed diabetes, experience mental health problems, and die early.

This is the frank and hard-hitting conclusion of a comprehensive review and analysis of 25 key measures of child health – including conditions such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy as well as risk factors such as obesity, mental health and smoking – carried out by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Its 133-page report, The State of Child Health, is aiming to provide government and others with a “snapshot” of child health in a bid to inform policy-making and service provision.

On smoking – which continues to be the greatest single cause of avoidable mortality in the UK – the report warns six per cent of 15-year-olds in England and eight per cent in Wales and Scotland smoke regularly.

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