This section of the website presents news and information on topical issues relating to the health of children and young people, and maternal health. It includes health stories appearing in the popular media.
We do not accept responsibility for the availability, reliability or content of these news items and do not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them.
NICE has updated the traffic light system for predicting the risk of serious illness from fever in children under 5, and issued new advice on the use of paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Sharing a bed with a newborn increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome fivefold, research claims.
Following publication today (21 May) in BMJ Open of a new paper on the link between bed-sharing and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative has issued a statement. This includes key points ...
More than a quarter (26%) of students who say they experience mental health problems do not get treatment and only one in 10 use counselling services provided by their university, according to a National Union of Student ...
Half of parents driving their children to UK primary schools live under a mile away, walk-to-school campaigners say.
The Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, Isabelle Trowler - a social worker for many years who transformed children’s services in Hackney - will lead reform of the profession to deliver the best for children an ...
A survey for The Welcome Trust found that 1% of 14-18 year olds, used medicines normally prescribed for Alzheimer's disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to improve their focus, concentration or mem ...
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest 244,000 people under 19 are carers and about 23,000 are under nine.
The Children's Society says that in England, one in 12 young carers spends more than 15 ho ...
This opinion piece asks why the girls involved in the Oxford child abuse case weren't listened to.
A mother says she is "devastated" at having to sell her home to pay back compensation she was given to care for her disabled son, who has since died.
The Mail Online reports on a large UK study which found that girls whose biological fathers were absent during the first five years of their childhood had an increased risk of symptoms of depression. This 'Behind the hea ...
The new issue of the UK NSC's Screening Matters newsletter is now available online, with the latest screening policy information, as well as updates on the English national screening programmes and cross-programme work.
Breastfeeding has a positive impact on the physical and mental development of infants. A new study suggests that breastfeeding may protect against the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later ...
Next week the American Psychiatric Association is publishing its fifth take on the classification of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-5. In this article, two experts discuss the debate over the classification of mental dis ...
April 2013 newsletter for immunisation practitioners, with the latest developments in vaccines, and vaccination policies and procedures.
Oxfordshire council says a range of measures have been taken to improve its response to sexual exploitation. The failings came to light during the trial of an Oxford gang, which saw seven men convicted of a string of chi ...
Measles cases in the Swansea epidemic have risen by 20 in the last five days to 1,094 as health chiefs warn the uptake of MMR is too low to eliminate the disease in Wales. (Published 14 May 2013.)
Incentive payment programmes being trialled in youth justice have reduced demand on offender services in their first year of operation, new figures show.
Councils have missed a first-year target for the number of families they worked with under the government’s flagship troubled families initiative
Researchers in Cambridge have begun a study to understand the teenage brain. They have told BBC News that they will scan 300 people aged between 14 and 24 to see how their brains change as they grow older. The £5m study ...
The issue of underweight school children is being missed because of an "obsession" with tackling obesity, a group of researchers has claimed.
All pregnant women could be tested to see if they are smoking according to proposals from the body which issues guidance to the NHS. Discussion broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday 13 May 2013 including t ...
This two-day course is an introduction to the principles of sleep assessment and management and is specifically designed for frontline health/social care practitioners who work with children (with disabilities / special ...
Figures published by Public Health England (PHE) [May 2012] show that confirmed cases of whooping cough in England have continued to decrease in 2013 with 434 cases reported in March.
Bury beat competition from towns across England to secure the £1.8m of National Lottery funding from Sport England, to test what works in changing the sporting habits of women and girls. Though there has been an increase ...
This letter explains the continuation of the temporary programme for whooping cough (pertussis) vaccination for pregnant women.
Children's exposure to air traffic pollution could increase their risk of insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes in adults, suggests a study in Diabetologia.
According to CAFCASS the number of care applications made by social workers in England soared by 70% in the years since the Baby Peter case. The figures released on 9 May 2013 suggest that a 64% increase in referrals per ...
A study published in the May 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that mental health resources provided by schools are significantly associated with whether adolescen ...
Researchers found that the way in which children understood the conflicts between their parents had different effects on their emotional and behavioural problems. Where children blamed themselves for the conflicts betwee ...
Flu during pregnancy may increase the risk of the unborn child developing bipolar disorder later in life, research suggests.
CLAHRC for North West London initiative to improve care for children with allergies is shortlisted for prestigious award
Contact A Family says that although the new bill will introduce a number of new and improved rights for carers such as making it easier for carers to get an assessment from their local council - these enhanced rights wil ...
The British Red Cross have worked with YoungMinds to produce video and Facebook first aid advice on the first actions to take on discovering someone who has taken a harmful substance. The Facebook page includes 10 pieces ...
A study from the University of Keele has examined links between bullying and different styles of playground humour.
There are "alarming variations" in the number of people with asthma admitted to hospital in an emergency, depending on where they live, says Asthma UK.
Outbreaks of measles are putting Europe's commitment to eliminate the disease by 2015 under threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
A poster than can only be fully seen when looked at from a child's point of view has been used in an anti-child abuse campaign.
"Children brought up by two parents are more intelligent," is the baseless claim on the Mail Online website. This article examines the evidence behind the report.
There is no added risk of death for children admitted to intensive care as emergencies out of normal hours, a study says.
Doctors are "holding their breath" as they await the outcome of a pregnancy of a Turkish woman who has had a uterus transplant.
The number of cases in the Swansea measles epidemic has risen to 1,039, an increase of 28 in two days. Public Health Wales (PHW) said that 33,000 non-routine MMR vaccinations have been given around the country during the ...
The health of thousands of babies born every year by planned caesarean section is being put at risk because hospitals carry out the operations earlier than is wise, childbirth experts are warning.
Expectant mothers in England experience wide variations in their quality of care, says a report by doctors.
The Obama administration has lodged an appeal against a court ruling directing it to make emergency contraception available over the counter and without age restrictions.
Huge numbers of children aged 10-15 were never vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, the result of a scare that caused panic among parents. The vaccination turned out to be safe, so how do those parents feel today about the d ...
Children's surgery has been suspended at a private Surrey hospital after "life-threatening" failings were raised by the health watchdog.
Almost 43,000 at-risk children and teenagers are being targeted in an urgent vaccination effort in the face of a spreading measles epidemic.
The one year survival rate for teenagers and young adults diagnosed with cancer is more than 90% but the percentage of those who die within 12 months varies greatly according to cancer type. Leukaemia and soft tissue sar ...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the 'morning-after' pill without a prescription for girls aged 15 and over.
A private hospital in Surrey has agreed to stop all surgery on children after a damning report from the Care Quality Commission, which said that patients' lives were being put at risk.
More than a third of schools in England are failing to provide pupils with age-appropriate sex and relationships education, the schools watchdog says.