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** 24 March 2023
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** UK
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** Study: Poorest children have worse health and educational outcomes in adolescence (#1)
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** According to the manufacturer e-cig detectors in schools are being set off up to 22 times a day (#2)
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** £35k worth of illicit tobacco and vapes seized in East London (#3)
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** Link of the week
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** Online event: Poverty and the cost of living crisis – a public health emergency (#4)
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** UK
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** Study: Poorest children have worse health and educational outcomes in adolescence
Generation Z children born into the poorest fifth of families in the UK are 12 times more likely to experience a raft of poor health and educational outcomes by the age of 17 compared to more affluent peers, finds a new report led by UCL researchers.
The study, published in The Lancet Public Health, used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a major study of more than 15,000 children born after the new millennium (September 2000 – January 2002) who are now in their early 20s.
Researchers collected data on five adverse health and social outcomes in adolescents aged 17 years, which are known to limit life chances: educational achievement, smoking, poor health, obesity and psychological distress.
Children who were most disadvantaged between the ages of 0-5 were four and a half times more likely to do worse at school at the age of 17 compared to those in the highest income group. And they were three and a half times more likely to start smoking.
The researchers suggest that policymakers should, as a minimum, aim to prevent absolute poverty in childhood, characterised today by widespread food and fuel poverty. They argue this is a necessary step but insufficient without a concerted effort to deliver coordinated public services to disadvantaged communities.
Professor Eric Brunner (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health) said: “Almost a third of children in the UK lived below the poverty line in 2019-20, as housing costs and childhood poverty continued to rise. The consequences in relation to future health inequalities (in diabetes, heart attack, cancer, and multimorbidity) are evident in stark terms in the experience of the Millennium Cohort. Social fragmentation on the scale we see it today is not a good plan in any sense.”
Source: Science Mag, 24 March 2023
See also: Lancet - Clustering of adverse health and educational outcomes in adolescence following early childhood disadvantage: population-based retrospective UK cohort study ([link removed](23)00029-4.pdf)
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** According to the manufacturer e-cig detectors in schools are being set off up to 22 times a day
Devices installed in schools to detect whether children are vaping are being set off up to 22 times a day, according to data compiled by the manufacturer.
The VapeGuardian sensors send a phone notification to teachers when the smallest hint of vapour is detected. They have been installed in nearly 100 schools across the UK and Ireland.
Data from the devices across 77 secondary schools suggests they are being set off 17 to 22 times a day.
The company says that schools with VapeGuardian sensors see this figure half after one week to an average of 8-11 alerts and these figures continue to decline consistently week after week.
A report from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) last year found the proportion of children aged 11 to 17 currently vaping had increased from 4 per cent in 2020 to 7 per cent in 2022.
Studies have shown that disposable e-cigarettes are increasing in popularity, in part because they cost around £5 each and come in a wide range of colours and fruity flavours.
Mr Hassett said that he and his team are 'fully committed to supporting schools across the UK', but that tighter regulations are need to 'reduce the attractiveness of vaping'.
He added: 'We want to collaborate with the health and education sector to ensure regulations go further to protect children from taking up vaping in the first place, as well as explore better guidance to support schools in reducing the problem.'
Source: The Daily Mail, 23 March 2023
See also: ASH- resources on youth vaping ([link removed])
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** £35k worth of illicit tobacco and vapes seized in East London
East London trading standards has seized £35k worth of counterfeit tobacco, cigarettes and vapes from a Romford business.
The police and Havering Council’s trading standards team raided the site at the beginning of March in conjunction with Operation CeCe, which is part of a wider HMRC strategy to tackle the problem of illegal tobacco trade.
The illegal products were found hidden in magnetically sealed boxes by officers and trained sniffer dogs.
Councillor Ray Morgon, leader of Havering Council, said: “This is excellent work from our trading standards team working with police and means these illegal and harmful products have been taken off the streets in our borough.
He added: “Our aim is keep our residents safe. That is why it is important for us to crack down on those looking to sell these illegal products like this and take the strongest possible action.”
Acting superintendent Lisa Butterfield, from the Police East Area Basic Command Unit (BCU), said: “Illicit tobacco can not only cause serious harm to people’s health, but the proceeds are often used in organised crime and fund more serious offences.
Source: Better Retailing, 22 March 2023
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** Link of the week
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** Online event: Poverty and the cost of living crisis – a public health emergency
The Royal Society of Medicine is organising an event to explore how the cost of living crisis is impacting public health and to raise awareness of evidence-based interventions that can be implemented to tackle poverty and its effects. Register here ([link removed]) .
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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