As a paediatrician and the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, I have watched with horror as waiting lists for community health services soar. The cost of living crisis has dragged down the health of our children, with one in five parents reporting that their children's physical health has suffered. The number of children with eight or more chronic health conditions has doubled from 7.6% in 2012 to 14% in 2018, illustrating the dire state of child health.
It's tragic that removing decayed teeth has become the most common operation in the UK for children. Poor diet is the leading cause of this tooth decay. School nurses report that nearly half deal with children suffering due to a lack of healthy food on a daily or weekly basis. Our children's growth has stagnated after years of austerity; British five-year-olds are now shorter compared to their peers in Europe.
To reverse this troubling trend in child health, we need a comprehensive approach that includes diet, housing, and education. However, pivotal to this change is the extension of free school meals to every primary school child. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health supports the National Education Union's 'No Child Left Behind' campaign and wants to see immediate implementation of free school breakfasts and broader meal support for children.
While free school meals are currently universal for reception-age children, there is still much work to be done to ensure that all primary school children receive the necessary nutritional support. Only through decisive measures can we begin to address the health disparities faced by our youngest and most vulnerable population.
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