Affected youth
British youngsters rank among world’s worst on mental wellbeing
OUR kids’ mental wellbeing is among the worst of all developed nations.
Only two other countries fare worse for children’s “life satisfaction”, according to Unicef analysis of child health data.
And 31% of UK five to 19-year-olds are overweight or obese, making Britain 28th out of 41 countries providing the data.
Unicef warned child wellbeing could worsen as a result of the pandemic.
Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Unicef UK, said:
“The Government can and should take action now to avert a looming and longterm crisis for children.”
British youngsters ranked in the bottom three of 33 wealthy nations surveyed for “life satisfaction”.
Children were surveyed at 15 and asked to rate how satisfied they felt with their lives on a scale from 0 to 10.
Some 36% in the UK rated their mental wellbeing as poor, scoring below five. Only Japan and Turkey fared worse.
The causes are disputed, but factors include family life, healthcare, schooling and poverty.
The Netherlands performed best for mental wellbeing. The report said: “This is more than merely a question of momentary ‘ happiness’.
“Compared with children with average-to-high life satisfaction, those with low life satisfaction were about eight times as likely to report family conflict, six times as likely to feel that they could not express their opinions, five times as likely to be bullied, and more than twice as likely not to look forward to going to school.” The UK ranked 27th among 41 countries on overall child wellbeing. The Netherlands again topped the list, fol lowed by Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Finland and Spain. France was seventh, Ireland 12th and Germany 14th.
At the bottom was Chile, f followed by Bulgaria and then the US. Japan fared best on child obesity, followed by Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The US was the worst in this category, with New Zealand the second worst-performing country and the UK only a few places ahead at 28.
The report said: “Obesity is a serious problem for both medical and psychological reasons. It contributes to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, cancer, gallbladder disease and a shorter life expectancy. It takes a social and emotional toll by limiting participation in social life and lowering self-esteem.”
The UK ranked 29th for mental wellbeing, 19th th for physical health and 26th for skills. Mr Deshmukh said: “As the UK emerges from the worst of the pandemic the Government must develop and deliver a comprehensive cross-departmental children’s recovery plan to ensure no child is denied their right to health, safety, education and happiness.
“It seems poor mental health, obesity and inadequate social and academic skills are the hallmarks of modern childhood. Lockdown, school closures and the wider impacts of the pandemic added layers of complexity to the challenges facing children in the UK. For many, life is now even tougher and a bright, fulfilling future is further from reach.”
Nations included in the analysis are all considered High-Income Countries by the United Nations children’s fund.
A Government spokesman spokesm said: “Significant action has been taken to tackle childhood obesity obesit – cutting sugar from half of drin drinks on sale, funding physica physical activity programmes in sc schools and working with co councils to tackle the issue locally. loc
“We are committed comm to improving the mental men health and wellbeing of young yo people and are transformin transforming services through the NH NHS Long
Term Plan.”
Government should act now to avert a long-term crisis for our children
SACHA DESHMUKH DIRECTOR OF UNICEF UK