Urgent action needed on failing child health

The Academy of Medical Sciences has released a stark report highlighting wide-ranging evidence of declining health among children under five in the UK and calls on policymakers to take urgent action to address the situation. The report was written by a group of child health experts from across the UK, chaired by Professor Helen Minnis from the University of Glasgow and Professor Sir Andrew Pollard from the University of Oxford. The report warns Government that major health issues like infant mortality, obesity and tooth decay are not only damaging the nation's youngest citizens and their future, but also its economic prosperity, with the cost of inaction estimated to be at least £16 billion a year. In recent years, progress on child health in the UK has stalled. Infant survival rates are worse than in 60% of similar countries and the number of children living in extreme poverty tripled between 2019 and 2022. Demand for children's mental health services surge and over a fifth of five-year-old children are overweight or obese, with those living in the most deprived areas twice as likely to be obese than in affluent areas. One-in-four is affected by tooth decay.