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Politics

UK is raising one of the unhealthiest generations of children in decades

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RCPCH logo over an image of children in a school playground

RCPCH logo over an image of children in a school playground

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has updated its landmark State of Child Health report, which looks at the health of children across 12 indicators.

Nearly a decade after its first publication, this latest analysis has found that children’s health in the UK across all areas is either in decline or has stalled completely.

Ranging from infant mortality and mental health to obesity, immunisation, and asthma, the report concludes that widening inequalities, gaps in data and chronic underinvestment are putting the health of a generation at risk.

The report found in England:

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  • Only 84% of children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine by age five, well below the WHO 95% target.
  • More than one in three (36%) children aged 10–11 is overweight or severely overweight.
  • One in five children aged 8–16 has a probable mental health disorder.
  • Children in the most deprived areas are four times more likely to die from asthma.
  • Infant mortality in the most deprived communities is more than double that seen in the least deprived areas.

Health of children not improving

Alongside its wider analysis, a recent YouGov poll commissioned by RCPCH found that only 12% of parents believe child health has improved over the last ten years, suggesting that progress has not been felt by families and that much more remains to be done.

RCPCH is calling on the UK government to make child health a national priority, not an afterthought.

The State of Child Health sets out a clear plan to improve children’s health and reduce inequalities:

  • Invest fairly and consistently in children’s health services and the workforce.
  • Improve the collection and sharing of child health data across the UK.
  • Introduce binding national targets to improve child health outcomes and narrow the gap between the most and least deprived.

With a new prime minister soon taking office, RCPCH calls on the government to act before another generation of children gets let down.

RCPCH officer for health improvement, Dr Helen Stewart, said:

The UK’s record on children’s health should be a national embarrassment. Across Western Europe, many other countries are achieving better outcomes for children, yet too many children here are being left behind.

The State of Child Health report shows that we are categorically failing children in the UK, but especially those from ethnic minorities and poorer backgrounds.

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When the Darzi Review was published in 2024, it laid bare the scale of children’s worsening health in England and was meant to mark a turning point. Instead, despite the warnings, little has changed.

Without action, more children will grow up in poor health, entering adulthood at a disadvantage and putting even greater pressure on families and public services.

In their first 100 days, the new prime minister should set out how they will make children’s health a priority through sustained investment, better use of data and clear national targets. Paediatricians have provided the blueprint, now policymakers must listen.

Rachel de Souza, children’s commissioner for England, said:

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Children all over the country want to grow up healthy, happy, and able to fulfil their potential – yet too many children are being held back by circumstances beyond their control, and too many families are experiencing tragedy.

Factors such as where children live and family finances shouldn’t determine whether they can have a healthy start in life. But some of our poorest children are facing the greatest barriers to good health.

This important report shows that the country is not only overseeing a decline in children’s health but also failing to uphold their rights.

Improving children’s health and wellbeing must be at the heart of government decision making. We must ensure every child who can be is vaccinated, every mother and baby gets dedicated care, and that every area is held to account for doing so.

We have to tackle problems before they escalate and make sure every child can access the support they need, regardless of where they live.

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Sebastian Rees, head of health at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), said:

IPPR has long argued that the UK has become the sick man of Europe on health. This report from RCPCH shows that this starts at a very early age. For a government committed to giving every child the best start in life, that should be of huge concern and deserves far more attention than it currently receives.

Poor health in childhood doesn’t just have a huge impact on young people and their families in the here and now – it also casts a long shadow. IPPR’s own research shows that poor health in childhood carries through the entire life course, shaping people’s health and opportunities decades later.

This is a complex, multifaceted problem that requires action right across government, but a Children’s Health Investment Standard that protects spending on vital early years services would be a great place to start.

Dr Sunil Bhopal, director of child health research at Born in Bradford, said:

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This solutions-focused report shows that many of the challenges facing children’s health are not inevitable.

By tracking the lives of thousands of children and families for over 20 years, our work at Born in Bradford shows that these challenges are often the product of inequalities and circumstances that policy has the power to change.

‘State of Child Health 2026’ combines robust data with the experiences of children, young people and clinicians.

It puts the evidence in front of the people with the power to act on it.

Featured image via the Canary

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By The Canary

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Politics

Survivors of Spycops abuses fear Home Office ‘consultation’ is an attempt to shut down inquiry

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Spycops campaign banners outside Royal Courts of Justice during the Undercover Policing Inquiry

Spycops campaign banners outside Royal Courts of Justice during the Undercover Policing Inquiry

This is a statement from Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance regarding the Undercover Policing Inquiry

Following elation at the progress of the Hillsborough law, victims of spycops were confronted on 16 July with a Home Office ‘consultation’ into the future of the Undercover Policing Inquiry.

We are shocked and surprised by the announcement and deeply concerned that this is an attempt to shut this Inquiry down. We have been requesting a meeting with the Sponsor Department of the Home Office for more than a year and have been stonewalled.

Now, we are presented with this multiple choice survey which clearly demonstrates that they have already considered the options without listening to us. We wish to stress that the delays and costs incurred by the Inquiry to date are entirely the result of applications for secrecy and lack of candour by the state agents taking part.

The timing of this consultation (in the middle of Inquiry hearings and at the start of the Summer break) will exclude many of those affected from being able to properly engage. The options on offer have real implications for how, and whether, the truth gets established, and we are considering the survey carefully.

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We are calling on supporters not to fill it in until we have had a chance to respond.

The UCPI has been running since 2015, investigating abuses by undercover officers spanning five decades. One of the most expensive and longest running in British history, it has been hampered by the death of its first Chair and the imminent retirement of its second, with no replacement in sight.

So far it has only considered a single police unit, and is yet to consider some of the most important evidence, relating to abuses that took place under the existing regulatory framework that is supposed to protect us today.

Police actions to disrupt and stall proceedings (using tactics such as ‘Neither Confirm Nor Deny’, making numerous anonymity applications, and demanding extensive redactions of documents) prevented the Inquiry from even starting to hear evidence for the first six years, and continue to cause delays.

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We believe that had there been a Hillsborough Law in place when the Inquiry started it would have saved much time and expense.

Since hearings started in 2020, the Inquiry has uncovered evidence of sustained misconduct and corruption. Some of the most important revelations of our time about secret state (and Home Office) interference in our political freedoms.

The constant stream of revelations has caused considerable embarrassment and led to multiple public apologies from the Metropolitan Police. We have no doubt that there are powerful interests who would want it shut down.

However, the Inquiry has yet to consider units such as the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), who employed one of the most notorious officers, Mark Kennedy. Many victims are still waiting for answers, and the Inquiry must properly consider all the evidence before key recommendations can be made.

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We call on the Home Office not to hamper the search for truth and justice, and to allow the spycops Inquiry to do the job it was called on to do. We will continue to hold the police and public officials to account.

Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance

Campaigning in partnership with Police Spies Out of Lives, The Monitoring Group, the Blacklist Support Group and the Undercover Research Group.

Featured image via the Canary

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What is Keir Starmer’s legacy?

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What is Keir Starmer’s legacy?

The post What is Keir Starmer’s legacy? appeared first on spiked.

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England’s World Cup Defeat Inspires New Mick Jagger Meme

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England's World Cup Defeat Inspires New Mick Jagger Meme

If there was anything good to come from England’s World Cup defeat on Wednesday night, it was the gift of a new meme.

During the football match against Argentina, Mick Jagger was among the celebrity guests spotted showing their support for the Three Lions at Atlanta Stadium.

He was even seen ahead of the game getting into the spirit by mouthing along to a rendition of Sweet Caroline, which has become England’s unofficial anthem in the last few years.

However, by the time it became apparent that football was, in fact, not coming home for England, the Rolling Stones frontman’s demeanour had changed somewhat.

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Towards the end of the game, footage was shown of Mick looking crestfallen and shaking his head in despair at the result.

Naturally, social media users quickly grabbed the clip of this reaction for their own use…

Of course, the veteran rocker isn’t the only A-lister to have had a viral moment during this year’s World Cup.

Throughout the tournament, Sir David Beckham has been attending England’s games with his wife Victoria and (most of) their children.

Last week, Victoria inadvertently sparked her own viral moment thanks to her stoic reaction while the rest of her family celebrated England’s victory – to the point that even the former England striker himself felt compelled to say something.

“She was celebrating inside I promise,” Sir David wrote under one Instagram post about Victoria’s muted response. “Her reactions were slightly slower than mine.”

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Many spotted that during Wednesday’s match, the former Spice Girls star had been decidedly more animated when England’s Anthony Gordon scored for the team.

While England, sadly, will not be making it through to Sunday night’s World Cup final, they do have one match left, against France, to determine which of them will be awarded third place in the tournament.

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Victoria Beckham Has A Big Reaction To England’s World Cup Goal

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Victoria Beckham Has A Big Reaction To England's World Cup Goal

World Cup viewers couldn’t help but notice that Victoria Beckham seemed a lot more engrossed during Wednesday’s England match than she had at previous games.

Throughout the tournament, Victoria and her husband, football legend Sir David Beckham, have been pictured watching England’s games with (most of) their children.

However, last week, the former Spice Girls star inadvertently caused a viral moment when she was seen looking typically stoic, while the rest of the Beckham family celebrated England’s victory against Norway.

It even reached a point where Sir David himself felt compelled to say something, joking on Instagram: “She was celebrating inside I promise. Her reactions were slightly slower than mine.”

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As a result, it definitely didn’t go unnoticed when Victoria was seen jumping to her feet and joining in with Sir David and their son, Romeo, when Anthony Gordon scored for England during Wednesday’s match against Argentina.

Of course, while England got off to a strong start, things didn’t end up going in their favour – and by the end of the match, Mick Jagger’s crestfallen reaction pretty much summed up the mood of the nation.

Back in 2019, Victoria claimed that “not smiling publicly” was a type of “armour” that she was prone to hiding behind, which she elaborated on even more in her self-titled Netflix documentary last year.

“I’ve looked miserable for all these years because when we stand on the red carpet, [David] has always gone on the left,” she explained to viewers.

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She added: “Now I didn’t realise that when I smile – which I do! – I smile from the left, because if I smile from the right, I look unwell. So, consequently I’m smiling on the inside – but no one ever sees it. So, that’s why I look so moody.”

While England’s squad is now out of the World Cup, they do have one more game left, going head-to-head with France later this week to determine who has finished in third place.

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4 Of The Best Exercises For Lower Back Pain

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4 Of The Best Exercises For Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain affects about 80% of us at one point or another, according to the NHS.

Thankfully, fewer than 1% of those cases require urgent medical attention. But the pain can still affect your quality of life, and might mean you’re less tempted to exercise.

That can be a shame, as the NHS explained, “keeping as active as possible can help you to recover and do the things that are important to you”.

Avoiding movement for more than a day or two in mild back pain cases might actually worsen your condition, the health service added.

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According to a 2019 analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, four activities in particular seemed the most effective at treating “non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP)”.

NSCLBP means doctors can’t find one specific cause for back pain. This applies to the “vast majority of chronic low back pain cases,” the study’s lead author, associate professor Daniel Belavy, said.

What are the best exercises for lower back pain?

This paper analysed 89 studies involving back pain and exercise.

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Researchers found that staying active seemed to be more effective than rest for NSCLBP.

Belavy said: “There is a common misconception that if someone is in pain, they should be resting, but our research shows that when the pain has been there for a long time, exercise is an important part of treatment.”

They found four training styles were the “most effective” at treating NSCLBP. These were:

1) Pilates

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This seemed to be the joint “best” exercise for dealing with the condition.

Speaking to Healthline, Dr Courtney Gilbert, a physical medicine and rehabilitation expert, said: “Pilates teaches you how to articulate your spine and engage your deep core. Research has shown that Pilates can decrease low back pain compared to no exercise and non-specific exercise.”

This can include exercising with a pilates machine (Joseph Pilates, who invented the exercise, called this a Universal Reformer machine: now they’re used in Reformer classes), or doing pilates on a mat.

2) Stabilisation or motor control exercise training

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“There was evidence that Pilates and stabilisation or motor control exercise training were the best of these exercises for reducing pain,” Belavy said.

Stabilisation exercises can include strengthening your core and might involve crunches, bridges, and planks.

Motor control exercise training, meanwhile, typically aims to retrain the muscles near your spine to become more co-ordinated and stronger.

This can include balance training and other moves like hip bridges, sitting knee extensions, and even squats.

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3) Resistance exercise

You might know this as strength training. It means using weights and resistance training at increasingly high loads to build your muscles up.

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how “tight” hips that you might think need stretching can actually be weak hips that would benefit from strengthening. A similar principle can apply here.

Some strengthening exercises include weighted squats, push-ups, deadlifts, bench presses, and more.

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4) Aerobic exercise

Basically, activities like walking and running.

You might want to build up your pace and distance if you haven’t exercised in a while – “our study provides evidence that active therapies where the patient is guided, actively encouraged to move and exercise in a progressive fashion are the most effective,” Belavy shared.

What doesn’t work for back pain?

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Interestingly, this paper found that “stretching and McKenzie exercises, which is a treatment approach that uses a classification system to prescribe exercise”, were found to be the “least effective” kinds of exercises.

The NHS advises you should always stop exercising if it makes your back pain worse. Speak to your GP if you’re worried about your back pain and/or aren’t sure about beginning new activity.

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Politics

Why Ann Widdecombe’s murder has shaken Britain

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Why Ann Widdecombe’s murder has shaken Britain

The post Why Ann Widdecombe’s murder has shaken Britain appeared first on spiked.

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San Diego’s 23-Year-Old ‘ICE Chaser’

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San Diego’s 23-Year-Old ‘ICE Chaser’

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4″;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4″,”mediaId”:”04bd063f-2f8b-4c36-b72a-d8df39ed2bf7″}).render(“6a5a7014e4b0dbc7658647a1”);});

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Politics

Brenda Fricker, Home Alone 2 And My Left Foot Star, Has Died, Aged 88

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Brenda Frick on the set of Home Alone 2

Oscar winner Brenda Fricker has died at the age of 88.

The character actor was most well-known to film fans for her work in the 1989 movie My Left Foot, for which she made history as the first Irish woman to ever win an Oscar, picking up the Best Supporting Actress prize at the Academy Awards.

Her other movie credits include So I Married An Axe Murderer and Veronica Guerin, while to a generation of viewers, she’ll be best remembered as the character known as the “Central Park Pigeon Woman” in the festive family comedy Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.

Paying tribute in a statement to BBC News on Friday morning, her agent said: “We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her.

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“I was honoured to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over.”

Brenda Frick on the set of Home Alone 2
Brenda Frick on the set of Home Alone 2

20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

Brenda’s other on-screen work included a recurring role in Casualty as nurse Megan Roach, a role she continued to play until the 2010s.

She also shared the screen with Glenn Close in 2011’s Albert Nobbs, and appeared in the TV adaptation of the Graham Norton novel Holding in the 2020s.

In addition to her acting career, Brenda released her candid memoir She Died Young: A Life In Fragments, last year.

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Brenda Fricker on the set of My Left Foot, the film which earned her an Oscar win, with co-star Daniel Day-Lewis
Brenda Fricker on the set of My Left Foot, the film which earned her an Oscar win, with co-star Daniel Day-Lewis

Following the news of Brenda’s death, Ireland’s Tánaiste Simon Harris said he had been “deeply saddened” by the loss, remembering the late actor as “a national treasure”.

“She was a consummate performer who graced our screens and stages with remarkable talent and authenticity. Brenda brought depth and humanity to every role she undertook,” he said.

Harris added: “She truly was among the greatest exports this country has ever produced and an ambassador for Irish talent on the world stage. Quite simply, we will never see the like of her ever again.”

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Politics

HuffPost Headlines 7-17

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HuffPost Headlines 7-17

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4″;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4″,”mediaId”:”b4537394-92dd-4854-ad5b-a3a4f1acf341″}).render(“6a5a5424e4b042a7aac7b532”);});

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IOF bombs funeral in Gaza

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The Nuseirat refugee camp after it was bombed by the IOF on 8 June 2024

The Nuseirat refugee camp after it was bombed by the IOF on 8 June 2024

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has just bombed a funeral in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza.

At least eight people were slaughtered and more than 20 others wounded, though at the time of Mosab Abu Toha’s post, the known death toll was five.

IOF use the Nuseirat camp as a slaughter camp

The Nuseirat refugee camp has repeatedly been the scene of Israeli atrocities. These include the murder of 276 civilians and the wounding of almost 700 during Israel’s US-assisted ‘rescue mission’ in 2024. Four ‘hostages’ were rescued, including Noa Argamani.

Argamani later said she had been in far more danger from Israel than her captors and indeed had been wounded by Israeli bombing.

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Featured image via WAFA News Agency

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