Health News Summary 18 September 2008
19 Sep 2008
£36 Million investment in sport taster sessions, New report says Volunteering leads to better health.
Also of interest...
Healthy Lifestyle
Sport Unlimited - £36 million investment
Sport England has announced a £36 million investment in Sport Unlimited, a programme which offers young people taster sessions in sports of their choosing and aims to get them to join clubs in the long run. The three-year programme, which will aim to enable 900,000 more 11 to 19 year olds to choose from a range of sports, is run by Sport England in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust and County Sports Partnerships across England. It has been developed in 12 areas and will now be fully rolled out across the country, resulting in 4,000 new sporting projects being established. Sport England press release>>
Teaching pupils to cook risotto and crumble 'will tackle obesity’
Every 11-year-old in England will receive a free cookbook under plans to tackle obesity by teaching children how to prepare healthy meals. Independent article >>
Schools warned of pupils hooked on energy drinks
Anti-drugs advisory group Drug Education UK has warned schools to be vigilant after claims that children are becoming dependent on energy drinks that have dramatic effects on their concentration and behaviour. The warning comes as the government prepares to issue new measures to improve school dinners and advise parents on packed lunches. Guardian article >>
Curriculum packs misleading children
The Children’s Food Campaign is concerned about nutrition claims in curriculum packs produced by a range of companies and trade associations. The packs are designed to be sent to schools to help teaching about a range of foods. The campaign argues that many make dubious, misleading claims that are intended to be passed onto children and young people by teachers as fact in everyday lessons. The campaign would like to hear from practitioners who have come across examples of curriculum packs that they have concerns about, or other examples of ‘dubious’ marketing practices. It will then produce a dossier to be presented to the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Guardian article >>
Children's Food Campaign website >>
Tories say Labour neglects ‘teenage health’
The Guardian reports that the Conservative Party has published a dossier which claims that young people's health has got steadily worse under Labour since 2000. Using government statistics, they claim admission to hospitals for alcohol abuse had increased by 51 per cent. The number of reported cases of sexually transmitted infections had also increased in the last five years, up by 21 per cent to more than 53,000.
Guardian article >>
Why team sports may make young people fat - and put them off exercise for life
Highly competitive team sports in school can discourage young people from taking part in extracurricular physical activity and undermine efforts to curb teenage obesity rates, a study suggests. Researchers at Loughborough University recommend that young people should be given more opportunity to take part in solo exercise such as aerobics, pilates and cross-country running. Times article >>
Child poverty
A new report from The Campaign to End Child Poverty warns that ill health is one of the worst effects of poverty on children in the UK. The report ‘Unhealthy Lives’ found that children living in disadvantaged families are more than three times as likely to have mental health and emotional well being issues as those in better-off families. Campaign to End Child Poverty press release >>
Healthy Relationships and Sex
‘Dozens’ of under-16s have STIs
The first in a series of reports on sexual health in Scotland compiled by the Information and Statistics Division has found that a total of 281 young people under 16 contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) last year, with 181 testing positive for Chlamydia. BBC article >>
Alcohol and Substance Use
Young people to help tackle alcohol misuse in Scotland
A Youth Commission on Alcohol is to be set up so that young people can play an active role in tackling Scotland's £2.25 billion alcohol misuse problem. Public Health Minister Shona Robison said the forum would allow young people to give direct feedback to ministers. And that young people themselves were the key to getting to grips with underage drinking. Ms Robison and Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Early Years, spoke to 150 adults and young people at a one-day summit which featured a series of workshops on tackling underage drinking. Scottish Government press release >>
Survey to gain true picture of underage drinking
The London Assembly has launched an investigation to find out the ‘true scale’ of drinking among young people in the capital. It will focus on 11 to 21-year-olds and will include a survey, focus groups with young people and the use of social networking sites like Facebook. The investigation will look into the extent of underage drinking and the underlying causes of alcohol misuse by young people, and make recommendations on how to tackle the problem. Children and Young People Now article >>
Stop smoking statistics - latest release
A new statistical report presents final results from the monitoring of NHS Stop Smoking Services for the period April 2007 to March 2008. The statistics show that of those setting a quit date, success rates generally increased with age, from 38 per cent of those aged under 18, to 60 per cent of those aged 60 and over. HNS Stop Smoking Services statistics - April 2007 - March 2008 >>
Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
Volunteering leads to better health says new report
A report by Volunteering England into the impact volunteering can have on health finds that volunteering could help people live longer and is good for their health and well-being. The report, compiled by the University of Wales Lampeter, also finds that volunteering has a positive effect on people’s self-esteem, helps to reduce the number of hospital visits, and can beat depression, stress and pain.
Volunteering England - Volunteering and Health webpage >>
Young 'ignorant on mental health'
A study of over 500 young people conducted by Great Ormond Street Hospital has found that almost half could not name a single mental health problem. Fewer than half of those surveyed felt that schools provided enough information about mental health and a third preferred to trust the internet. The hospital is planning to launch its own child mental health information website. BBC website >>
Children and Young People’s Services
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Department of Health and the Royal College of Midwives have published a guidance document ‘Teenage Parents: Who Cares?: A Guide to Commissioning and Delivering Maternity Services for Young Parents’. This guide makes the case for increased attention to the planning, organisation and delivery of maternity services for young people and gives practical suggestions for how to achieve a high quality service to meet their needs. The document has been informed by midwives and maternity services providing specialist support and by research with young parents.
Download publication >>
Youth Access - Making Tracks
With funding from the Department of Health, Youth Access is developing a pilot project entitled Making Tracks, which aims to improve services for young adults with complex needs by developing better partnership working between GPs, Primary Care Trusts and Young People’s Information, Advice and Counselling services operating in the voluntary and community sector. The project will select up to three pilot sites to develop and evaluate improved services for ‘harder to reach’ young adults, combining medical, psychological therapies and social welfare advice services. Youth Access press release >>
Funding
Sex and relationship education grants to young people from THT
Sexual health and HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is inviting groups of young people aged 13 to 19 to apply for a grant of up to £1,000 to come up with innovative and creative ideas about how to educate their friends about relationships and sex. Grants are offered as part of THT’s
Young Leaders project – a peer led sex and relationship education project for young people across England. The deadline for applications is Monday 27 October. Further information >>
Grassroots Grants
The Government’s £130million Grassroots Grants scheme has been launched and is calling on small local voluntary and community groups to apply for funding. The programme, funded by the Office of The Third Sector and administered by the Community Development Foundation, offers grants of between £250 and £5,000 to support activities in local communities. Further information >>
Events/Training
Youth Work for Health (The National Youth Agency)
Lifting the Lid: a first networking event for hospital based youth work practitioners
8 December, Birmingham
A networking event aimed at hospital based youth workers across the UK to find out the size, scope, needs and wants of the hospital based youth work sector, examine key issues in the current climate for this work and decide on a way forward. The event will include networking activities and examine current policy, Commissioning and funding for hospital based youth work; creating young people friendly services for young people in hospital settings. We will lock at the impact of this work, staff development through e-learning and look at ways forward
For a registration form, e-mail Vicky West or call Richard McKie, National Programme Manager for Health at The National Youth Agency on 0116 242 7428. Further information >>
Centre for HIV and Sexual Health
The latest Training and Publications brochure for Autumn/Winter 2008 from the Centre for HIV & Sexual Health is available to download from its website. Download brochure >>
NCVYS 1st Annual Safeguarding Workshop
12 October Birmingham
A workshop intended for aimed youth workers at all levels of practice and safeguarding knowledge which will include sessions on the Independent Safeguarding Authority and online child protection. Booking forms are available please email Yokeu Kusnama.
The closing date for booking forms is 26 September 2008. Further information >>
Association for Young People’s Health
Researching Adolescent Health - 2nd Biennial Conference
23 October London
The Association for Young People’s Health is hosting this one day multidisciplinary conference for researchers and practitioners across the UK with an interest in adolescent health and well-being. It will provide an opportunity for participants to share their experiences of healthcare research, as well as presenting examples of innovative approaches and encouraging new ideas. Further information >>
Rural Youth Network
Young people making a difference – the social inclusion of rural youth
25 September 2 Nottingham
A national conference delivered by Rural Youth Network and sponsored by the Commission for Rural Communities aims to highlight the contribution young people can make to rural communities, through community planning, participation and empowerment. The conference will provide a platform to share good practice from around the country in addressing the challenges of social inclusion of young people in rural areas. Contributions to the conference will look at a variety of themes including transport, housing, health, ‘NEET into EET’ and volunteering.
To book email Sarah Hope or call on 0116 242 7441. Further information >>
Practice
Plays help teens think about drink, drugs and sex
Young people from Newcastle have taken part in a play to raise awareness of drugs, alcohol and sexual health. The project involved working with Teenage Kicks, the city council's teenage pregnancy team, and the arts development team to create the interactive play. Audience members were allowed to take control of the drama throughout by going onstage to take over from actors or suggest what the actor could do next. This meant the play could change direction and have different endings. Afterwards, a workshop was held to discuss issues arising from the play and to allow young people to meet with local sexual health workers.
Children and Young People Now article >>
National Children’s Bureau
NCB has published a report on the findings from an on-line survey with children and young people on their views on the government’s new child health strategy. The survey ran for a month on the NCB website and was sent out randomly to children, young people and services across the country. The key messages from the survey focused on: the importance of family and spending time with relatives and friends; eating healthily and the importance of having access to cheaper healthy options; and emotional health and well-being - especially for carers. In addition the need for safe places to go and things to do which are free or more affordable was highlighted. NCB survey webpage >>
Resources
YoungMinds
Healthy Heads is a virtual discussion group for children and young people aged five to 25 to give their views on what makes them happy or unhappy and how organisations such as young minds can help. Healthy Heads works with local and national organisations to provide young people with a voice to inform and influence policy and practice. Healthy Heads webpage >>
HPV vaccine resource pack
As part of a new curriculum linked education programme the Royal Society of Health has published a downloadable education pack to support teachers, school nurses and health professionals in introducing and raising awareness of the HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Vaccination Programme. HPV Vaccine Resource Pack webpage >>
Sexperience is a web site that supports Channel Four’s ‘The Sex Education Show’. The website aims to raise awareness about sex education by providing a wide range of videos offering different personal experiences of sexual issues and problems, as well as giving honest and helpful advice. Sexperience web site >>
Consultation/Research Proposals
Campaigning competition
Battlefront is a new Channel 4 project about campaigning which aims to help young people aged 14-21 to get their voices heard as they campaign about the issues they really care about. So far the project has chosen 19 campaigners, and now they have launched a competition to find one more. Campaigns include environmental issues, knife and gun crime, homophobia, cyber-bullying, tuition fees, the minimum wage and binge drinking. Channel Four Battlefront website >>
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