Over 30 million Chinese children, aged between seven and 18, are overweight or obese - placing them at greater risk of an early death and this number is set to rise to 50 million by 2030, caused in part by the role grandparents play in childcare.

New research examining the effect of being raised by a single mother reveals lower income and resources has the greatest impact on a child's development, not poor parenting skills. The study, published today [20 November] in the journal Child Development , found children who lived with a single mother before age 11 had lower verbal ability than children whose parents stayed together.

Educating parents and grandparents - as well as improving physical activity and the food provided at school - could hold the key to solving China's obesity pandemic, according to one of the largest trials of childhood obesity prevention in the world.

Women and men experience a 'large divergence' in their career paths in the years following childbirth, according to a study following more than 3,500 new parents. Only 27.8 per cent of women are in full-time work or self-employed three years after childbirth, compared to 90 per cent of new fathers.