Opinion: Society must repay its debt to the young

Children's interests must now be paramount, with a particular focus on how to make up for their lost education, says Professor Russell Viner (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health). The Covid-19 lockdown was a curious reversal of the usual way in which adults make sacrifices for their children. The lockdowns and all the awfulness of the past year protected adults, particularly the elderly, against the virus, but we have known from early on that children and teenagers are at minimal risk. More than a year in, the tally-sheet across generations is very skewed and it is time we as a society recognised the debt we owe to young people. Closing down our children's lives has produced a rise in mental health problems, particularly eating disorders, anxiety and self-harm, together with sleep problems. We don't yet have the data on the impact on childhood obesity levels, but we know poor diet and a lack of physical activity have been very common. Younger children are also behind in language and social development and teenagers have missed out on many key life events.