SAPHNA SCHOOL AND PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES ASSOCIATION
Section 1: Setting out the case: children and young people’s health and the challenges ahead The current context of poverty and inequality
• Increasing child and adolescent mental health problems14
There were 3.7 million children reported to be living in poverty in the UK during 2013-14. The levels are rising. The Social Metrics Commission Report 2020 details that in 2017-18 this figure now stands at 4.6 million. The impact of the COVID has further impacted negatively on children in poverty. In a report by Buttle UK (2020)12 frontline worker reported that vulnerable families have been disproportionately impacted experiencing high levels of job loss, furlough, ill equipped to access education and more likely to access foodbanks than those in higher income brackets.
• An increase in child sexual exploitation including online CSE with a 700% increase in child abuse images being referred to the National Crime Agency in the last five years15
The negative effects of poverty start before birth and accumulate across the lifespan and onto the next generation. Children living in poverty are likely to develop ill health or/and have accidents as well as face a wide range of poorer outcomes in adulthood. The most common causes of death for all young people 10-24 are those described as external (including accidents, self-harm and assault) and cancer. As young people get older, the number of deaths from external causes increases. Altogether, 56% of the deaths to 10-24-year old’s in 2017 were due to external causes, a significant proportion of which could be considered preventable through good quality health care and wider public health interventions10. Poverty and inequalities result in poorer physical and mental health, academic achievement and employment prospects at every stage of life as well as having financial consequences for our society4. Increased investment is needed to address existing gaps in provision and address priorities including:
• An increase in obesity across the school aged years. The latest health survey for England shows that a quarter of 11-15-year-olds in England are obese (23% male, 24% female). Sadly, we are now witnessing a significant rise in childhood obesity as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic17.
• Falling UK immunisation rates with the loss of measle free status13
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SCHOOL NURSING: A Service Fit for the Future
• An increase in vulnerable children and adolescents including these exposed to sexual exploitation, neglect, looked after children and young carers12 • Poor oral health – PHE 2019 national epidemiology survey of 5-year-old children showed in England 23.4% had experienced tooth decay. Most of the tooth decay was untreated16
Further data on the trends in children and young people’s health is available at: fingertips.phe.org.uk Figure 1: Infographic displaying key findings from research on the wellbeing of children and adolescents in the UK by Haggell and Shah (2019)
