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More support needed´ to protect mental health of babies and young children
More support is needed to ensure babies and young children do not develop lifelong mental health problems, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych).
The college is calling on the Government to “prioritise” the mental health of babies and young children, saying “early action is vital”.
RCPsych’s report – Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: the case for action – outlines the risks associated with a child developing mental health problems from conception, including the mother smoking, drinking or taking drugs during pregnancy.
Childhood deprivation is also a factor, the report said, as well as experiences of domestic abuse and emotional abuse.
According to RCPsych, half of mental health conditions arise by age 14, but many begin to develop in the early years of life.
RCPsych said there are a number of ways to prevent mental health issues in babies, including providing support for the mother in pregnancy and during the breastfeeding stage, as well as working with parents to promote attachment to their child.
The report said support in the first five years of life creates “productive adults who can fully contribute to the wellbeing of our society”.
Joanna Moody, senior policy adviser for child mental health and wellbeing at Unicef UK, said: “Mental health in infancy and early childhood is often overlooked, yet it lays the foundations for a child’s future.”
She added that RCPysch’s report “provides a strong evidence base for action to prioritise mental health right from the start of children’s lives”.
Source: The Daily Mail, 21 October 2023
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Vapes, tobacco and cigarettes worth £24k seized in Northants
Hundreds of illegal vapes, cigarettes and tobacco products have been seized in anti-smuggling police raids.
North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) said four premises in Rushden, Northamptonshire, were searched as part of the operation.
The estimated value of the goods was estimated at more than £24,500, the council said.
Officers from NNC Trading Standards and Licensing Department raided the properties with Northamptonshire Police in response to complaints from the public and intelligence.
The haul consisted of 111 packets of hand rolling tobacco, 866 packets of cigarettes and 1,042 non-compliant vapes.
Source: BBC News, 20 October 2023
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Australia: ‘I never thought he would steal from me’: Australia’s youth gambling crisis is taking a toll on families
Wendy could tell something was wrong by the look on her son’s girlfriend’s face when she came down to the kitchen on Easter morning. “He’d been out with his mates, had a few drinks, got her phone, got into her savings account, and gambled $2,800 into two bets,” she says.
Her son’s girlfriend burst into tears. “She said, ‘I never … thought he would steal from me.’”
Wendy’s 22-year-old son had started gambling just before he turned 18, when he was working with a boss heavily into gambling.
His girlfriend has now left him and Wendy estimates that she and her husband have spent up to $25,000 paying off his gambling debts.
A Guardian Australia investigation into the youth gambling crisis revealed a 16% increase in the number of young people seeking help for gambling in the past financial year, many of them entering adulthood with debt, broken relationships and depression.
Dr Simone McCarthy and her colleagues from Deakin University’s faculty of health have just finished interviewing 500 parents across Australia about their concerns about risky products their children are engaging with, including gambling.
“Parents are concerned, particularly around how children see gambling as a way to make money, and that comes back to the way that the ads are presenting gambling as a fun, social and easy way to make money,” McCarthy says.
McCarthy and other public health experts say that, particularly in the online space, celebrity endorsements, influencer endorsements and “risk-reducing” promotions such as cash-back offers are having the most impact on young people, by prompting them to think that gambling has little or no risk attached to it.
Along with comprehensive gambling advertising bans, including on team sports uniforms, experts say governments must tackle the way the gambling industry seeks to influence public opinion and policy. Like the tobacco industry, this includes political donations, corporate social responsibility strategies and lobbying.
The independent MP Zoe Daniel has been advocating for publication of all ministerial diaries in real time so voters can see the industry representatives and lobby groups their elected representatives are meeting with. None of the ministers’ offices would provide the information.
Source: The Guardian, 21 October 2023
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