A major new report says children in England have some of the worst outcomes in Europe
The nation is “failing its children”, leading experts have warned in a new report which calls for the health system to do more to prevent ill health among children. The report, from the Institute of Health Equity (IHE) and children’s charity Barnardo’s, highlights how children in the UK have “some of the worst health outcomes in Europe”.
It says that the health and wellbeing of children and young people have been “deteriorating” for around 15 years and how there have been “widening health inequalities” among children depending on their wealth and ethnic background. Writing the foreword of the report, leading health expert Professor Sir Michael Marmot said: “England is failing its children.
“The social gradient in child health is steep and widening. Too many children are growing up in cold, overcrowded homes, breathing polluted air, experiencing food insecurity, and lacking nurturing activities fundamental to healthy development.
“These are the social determinants of health and they shape not only childhood, but health and life chances across the whole life course.”
The Children and Young People’s Health Equity Collaborative (CHEC), including the IHE, Barnardo’s and three local health bodies, was established to help show how the healthcare system “can do much more to improve the social determinants” of health. The new report, which is being launched at an event focusing on child health at The King’s Fund, highlights a number of initiatives where the NHS has worked with charities and the voluntary sector to help children in deprived areas.
These include a scheme in Cheshire and Merseyside which helped parents bond with their children and get their child “school ready” and an after-school club in Rotherham which helped boost children’s emotional wellbeing. The report makes a number of calls to action and has been launched alongside a new framework to help local health systems understand what they can do to help improve children’s health across a number of sectors including housing and education.
Rukshana Kapasi, director of health, quality and inclusion at Barnardo’s, said: “Every day across Barnardo’s services, we see children who are full of potential but held back by circumstances they cannot control. Poverty, unsafe housing and unequal access to support mean these children are missing out on a good childhood and are more likely to have poor health and fewer chances in life.
“We simply don’t think that’s fair. Our report and findings released today show that change is possible. Now we need national leadership to scale that change, so that every child has the opportunity to thrive.”
