We Can’t Prevent Childhood Obesity By Education Alone: Lessons From The Evidence Base

 This briefing examines randomised control trials across a range of countries and settings. It analyses the focus of the trials through a wider determinants of health lens, and compares the focus of interventions against previously-mapped causes of obesity - which show that approximately 60 per cent of the causes come from living and working conditions, such as housing or transport, or wider conditions, such as income equality or land-use.

Click here to access King's fund blog

The State Of Children’s Mental Health Services 2020/21

 This report examines the progress that has been made over the past five years as well as looking at the impact the Covid crisis has had on children’s mental health.

Read King's Fund blog here

Study: Too Many Kids With ADHD Given Antipsychotic Drugs

A new study finds that many antipsychotic drug prescriptions given to children and teens with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not appear to be clinically warranted. The findings, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, show that fewer than half of the youth in the study who were prescribed antipsychotic drugs had first been treated with stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin, the recommended medication treatments for ADHD. Click here to read further.

Left to their own devices: children's social media and mental health

The aim of this report is to both understand what children, young people and practitioners have to say about the impact of social media on mental health and wellbeing and to shed light on the social media experiences of vulnerable children. Click here to get link to article

What Do Kids in The Hospital Really Want?

What matters most to children staying in the hospital? A new study finds that the two strongest desires of hospitalized kids are feeling safe and being able to get to sleep at night. read PsychCentral article here

Physical activity helps children to deal with life’s challenges

Read Government press release here

Adverse events during first years of life may have greatest effect on future mental health

A new study has found evidence that children under 3 years old are most the vulnerable to the effects of adversity -- experiences including poverty, family and financial instability, and abuse -- on their epigenetic profiles, chemical tags that alter gene expression and may have consequences for future mental health. Read ScienceDaily article here

Review of the National Autism Strategy 'Think Autism': call for evidence

In April 2014 the government published ‘Think Autism’, a strategy for meeting the needs of autistic adults in England. The strategy supports the Autism Act 2009. This year the Department of Health and Social Care, working with the Department for Education, will review the strategy and extend it to cover children as well as adults  Click here to read further.

Using Screens in The Dark Can Hinder Preteens’ Sleep

Preteens who look at a phone or television screen in the dark an hour before bed are at risk of not getting enough sleep compared to those who use these devices in a lighted room or do not use them at all before bedtime, according to a new study by U.K. and Swiss researchers. Click here to read PsychCentral article

Offer digital CBT to young people with mild depression, NICE says

Children and young people can be offered digital cognitive behavioural therapy (digital CBT, also known as computer CBT) as a first-line treatment for mild depression.  Click here to read further.