Loneliness, sleeping problems and eating disorders drive mental health crisis
Worrying levels of loneliness and sleep problems as well as the rising incidence of eating disorders are feeding a wellbeing crisis that has left an estimated one in six young people with a probable mental health disorder.
The latest NHS mental health survey research has identified a sharp rise in eating disorders as well as links between mental health and things like poverty, social media, and school absence.
The latest findings (NHS, 2021) show that 17% (roughly one in six) children aged six to 16 in England have a probable mental health disorder.
This is a similar rate to last year's survey findings, but an increase from 2017 when the figure was 12% – or roughly one in nine. It is a similar picture for 17 to 19-year-olds. In both 2021 and 2020 the research shows that 17% – or one in six – had a probable mental health disorder. This is up from 10% (one in 10) in 2017.
The findings draw on a sample of 3 667 children and young people aged between six and 23, who were surveyed both in 2017 and 2021.
The analysis shows that 39% of the cohort now aged 6 to 16 have experienced a deterioration in their mental health in the last four years, while 22% saw an improvement.
Among young people now aged 17 to 23, 53% experienced a decline in mental health since 2017 while 15% experienced an improvement.
Broken down by gender, the research finds that girls now aged between 11 and 16 were more likely to have experienced a decline in mental health (43%) than boys the same age (34%). This trend was also seen among those now aged 17 to 23.
- Eating disorders: The research reveals a sharp rise, with the proportion of 11 to 16-year-olds with possible eating problems increasing from seven% in 2017 to 13% in 2021.Rates were higher for older age groups. Among young people aged 17 to 19, the proportion with a possible eating problem rose from 45to 58%.
- Sleep problems: The latest findings show that 29% of 6 to 10-year-olds, 38% of 11 to 16-year-olds, and 57% of young people aged 17 to 23 were affected by problems with sleep on three or more nights of the previous seven. Across all age groups, levels of sleep problems were much higher in those with a probable mental disorder.
- Loneliness: 5% of 11 to 16-year-olds and 13% of 17 to 22-year-olds reported feeling lonely often or always. Rates were higher in girls and young women than in boys and young men and in those with a probable mental disorder.
- Social media: In 2021, 17% of 11 to 16-year-olds using social media agreed that the number of likes, comments and shares they received had an impact on their mood, and 51% agreed that they spent more time on social media than they meant to. Girls were more likely to agree with both statements than boys.
- Attendance: Around 11% of six to 16-year-olds missed more than 15 days of school during the 2020 autumn term. Children with a probable mental disorder were twice as likely to have missed this much school (18%) as those unlikely to have a mental disorder (9%).
- Poverty: For eight% of children aged six to 16, their parents reported having recently fallen behind with bills. For four%, parents could not afford to buy enough food or had needed to use a food bank. These figures were both higher for children with a probable mental disorder (13 and nine% respectively).
The findings echo those of the Good Childhood Report published by the Children's Society earlier this year. It found that a quarter of a million children had struggled to cope with changes to life during the pandemic and had low wellbeing.
Commenting on the NHS research, Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children's Society, said: ‘It's deeply worrying that so many young people are struggling with their mental health. The proportion likely to have a mental health disorder is still as high as it was following the first lockdown last year and suggests many children may have long-term support needs for which there is no quick fix.
‘It's clear children and young people are in desperate need of more support. That's why we want the government to invest in a network of early mental health support hubs in every community where children can drop in and get immediate help as problems emerge and before they hit crisis point.
‘Additionally, we want the government to commit to measuring children's wellbeing as it already does for adults to help identify children who are struggling and how best to invest in the right changes to help prevent mental health problems from emerging.’
Malala Yousafzai is calling for inspiring stories from deaf pupils
Global education advocate Malala Yousafzai is supporting a campaign to raise awareness about the challenges faced by children with hearing loss.
There are an estimated 34 million children worldwide affected by hearing loss, including 50,000 in the UK. Deafness is not a learning disability and yet educational outcomes are often worse for these children.
Globally, many children with hearing loss and deafness simply do not receive schooling. This problem is exacerbated in many parts of the world where millions of children – especially girls – already face significant barriers to education.
In the UK, 80% of deaf children attend mainstream schools. Deaf children fall an average of a grade behind their hearing classmates at GCSE and just 41% achieve two A levels or equivalent by the age of 19, compared to 65% of other young people. In 2020, GCSE results show that the average score for deaf pupils was a grade 4, compared to a grade 5 for hearing children.
The National Deaf Children's Society says that many deaf pupils, and their classroom teachers, need access to specialist staff like teachers of the deaf to succeed at school. However, over the last six years, one in 10 have been cut, with their numbers falling from 995 to 903.
Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate and has been a vocal advocate for young girls' right to an education. Malala has lost her hearing in her left ear and uses cochlear implants.
In 2012, aged 15, Malala was the victim of a failed assassination attempt when a Taliban gunman shot her as she rode home on a bus after taking an exam in Pakistan.
Her new campaign – the Achieve Anything Programme – is a partnership between the Malala Fund and the Cochlear Foundation. Malala is calling for young people with hearing loss and their parents to share stories of personal achievement to inspire other children and raise awareness of the issue.
She said: ‘My message to all the children with hearing loss is that you can achieve any dream that you have. Yes, there are things that might limit us, and things might be slightly harder for us. I personally can relate to that because I also have lost my hearing in my left ear.
‘You deserve this. You deserve to have equal opportunities as everybody else. Loss of hearing should not be a hurdle in your way; you can have any dream in the world that you want and you achieve that dream for yourself.’
Vaccine roll-out: A third of parents said that they will refuse permission
New guidance for schools over the 12 to 15-year-old vaccine roll-out comes as a survey shows that 37% of parents plan to refuse permission for their children to receive the jab.
Last month, the government confirmed that young people aged 12 to 15 in England will be offered the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The UK's Health Security Agency (2021) has published new guidance for schools.
It came amid reports that school leaders are receiving threatening letters from anti-vaccination groups and fears that some schools may face protests or ‘disruptive activity’ surrounding the vaccination drive.
The government has been urged to communicate clearly to the public that headteachers are in no way involved with the vaccination process or the decision to offer vaccination in schools.
The new guidance, published on September 15, makes clear that schools are not legally accountable for the vaccination programme.
Parental, guardian or carer consent will be sought for the vaccination, in line with existing school vaccination programmes such as the HPV immunisation programme. The guidance confirms that the School Age Immunisation Service will take charge of the vaccination process including seeking parental consent ‘in the same way as for any other school vaccination programme’ using a consent form and information leaflet.
The role of schools, according to the guidance, is simply to provide information to the health services about which children on roll are eligible, to share the information leaflet with families, and to provide space in the school for the vaccinations to take place.
The guidance also confirms that students whose parents have refused vaccination can still request the jab if they are considered by the healthcare professionals to be ‘Gillick competent’ (see later). Pupils in year 7 who have turned 12 on or before the day of the School Age Immunisation Service visit can be vaccinated.
The guidance acknowledges that some schools have been receiving ‘campaign letters and emails with misinformation about the vaccine programme’. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) had already reported incidents of pressure groups threatening schools with legal action over the issue.
The guidance urges schools not to engage with misinformation campaigns and to work with the School Age Immunisation Service to ensure full security risk assessments are carried out. The guidance states: ‘In the event of a protest or disruptive activity outside a school, or if schools know a protest is planned, they should alert the School Age Immunisation Service provider, local authority and police contacts to discuss the best way to manage the situation.’
The guidance emphasises: ‘Legal accountability for offering COVID-19 vaccines to children and young people sits with the SAIS and not with the school.’
Geoff Barton, ASCL general secretary, has welcomed the guidance and clarification: ‘We had asked for the government to make this clear in its guidance because many of our members have been receiving letters from various pressure groups threatening schools and colleges with legal action if they take part in any COVID vaccination programme. We are pleased that the government has responded in this way and we would ask that these pressure groups cease this activity.
‘It is also clear from the guidance that the role of schools will be limited to hosting these sessions and providing and sharing associated communications, with the vaccines administered by healthcare staff, as is normal with school-based vaccinations. The guidance is absolutely clear that schools are not responsible for mediating between parents and children who may disagree about whether or not to consent. This is the role of registered nurses in the School Age Immunisation Service.’
Paul Whiteman, general secretary at the NAHT, said: ‘We are hearing reports of threatening letters being sent to school leaders urging them not to allow their school buildings to be used for vaccination, but these letters are misguided – it is not school leaders' decision to make, it is the government's and the NHS. School leaders are being put in an invidious position, stuck between parents, pupils and pressure groups, all while simply working to carry out their national duty.’
Commenting on the guidance, he added: ‘We are pleased to see that the government has made it very clear that while vaccination teams might make use of school buildings, the responsibility, including legal responsibility, for delivering jabs will sit entirely with the appropriate medical teams. This should help keep disruption in schools to a minimum. It's very important that parents now direct any questions or concerns to the vaccination teams via the number provided so that school leaders can focus on the education of pupils.’
Despite the government's intervention, Mr Barton is still ‘very concerned’ about the possibility of protests. He added: ‘Frankly, it is a sorry state of affairs if any individuals or groups think it is helpful in any way to stage a protest outside a school over a vaccine programme which is designed to help reduce educational disruption and which seems to us to be in the best interests of children and young people. We implore people not to stage such protests.’
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has already advised that vulnerable 12 to 15-year-olds should be offered vaccination and, in light of the spread of the Delta variant, that all 16 and 17-year-olds should be given their first dose too.
The decision to expand vaccination to all 12 to 15-year-olds was taken when health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘I have accepted the recommendation from the Chief Medical Officers to expand vaccination to those aged 12 to 15 – protecting young people from catching COVID-19, reducing transmission in schools and keeping pupils in the classroom.’
Meanwhile, the parent survey, which was conducted by charity Parentkind between September 7 and 13, found that while 55% of parents would approve the jab for their 12 to 15-year-old child, 37% would not. Nine per cent said they were undecided.
But the uncertainty does not appear to be linked to parental vaccine hesitancy, with 77% of the respondents indicating that they themselves have been jabbed and only 16% saying they have not been.
Currently, more than four in five adults across the UK have received both COVID-19 vaccine doses, with more than half of all 16 and 17-year-olds also having had a first jab.
In a statement on September 3, Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of COVID-19 Immunisation for the JCVI, said: ‘For otherwise healthy 12 to 15-year-old children, their risk of severe COVID-19 disease is small and therefore the potential for benefit from COVID-19 vaccination is also small. The JCVI's view is that overall, the health benefits from COVID-19 vaccination to healthy children aged 12 to 15 years are marginally greater than the potential harms.’
When it came to parents of 16 and 17-year-olds already eligible for vaccinations, 73% of parents in the poll said their child had either been vaccinated or had booked an appointment, whereas 28% said their 16 or 17-year-old had not been vaccinated and did not intend to be.
Elsewhere, there had been question marks over whether students aged 12 to 15 would be able to opt for the vaccine against their parents' wishes.
The new guidance clarifies this: ‘Young people who understand fully what is involved in a proposed procedure, such as vaccination, can legally give consent. This is known as ‘Gillick competence’. If no consent from a parent has been received, but the child wants to be vaccinated and is judged to be Gillick competent by the healthcare professional, the child can still be vaccinated. In this case, the healthcare professional will make every effort to contact a parent to check before they proceed.’