Young people in Swindon are suffering poor outcomes in their emotional and mental health, oral health, access to nutritious food and exercise and child development and education.
Members of the Health & Wellbeing Board, which is run by Swindon Borough Council, but includes health care professionals and lay people heard details of the children and young people’s health needs assessment, presented by council officer Caroline Little.
It provides a snapshot of many different aspects of life as a child or a young person aged from birth to 25 in Swindon – demographics, whether young people are smoking, their sexual health and use of drugs.
But the report says there are four main areas identified for significant action.
About mental and emotional health, the accompanying report said: “Indicators of poor social, emotional and mental health were found across the life course, starting for parents in pregnancy and the first year of parenting and with particularly poor indicators at secondary age.
“Swindon has consistently been an outlier for hospital admissions for self-harm, with girls and young women most affected.”
Between 2011-12 and 2022-23 the figures for admissions to hospital as a result of self-harm in Swindon have fluctuated but risen from 567 per 100,000 people at the start of the period to 817 per 100,000.
That compares to an increase from 401 to 511 in the South West and 347 dropping to 319 for the whole of England.
The report said: ” These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions and support systems to reduce self-harm and increase support and coping mechanisms for good mental health.”
Access to dentistry and poor oral health is also of significant concern: “For preschool and primary-aged children, oral health was found to be of greatest concern with findings of significant tooth decay and tooth extraction.
Poor oral health is strongly correlated with deprivation and those with Asian ethnicities are also at greater risk.”
Swindon’s five-year-olds exhibit a significantly higher prevalence of dental decay at 28.9 per cent compared to both England at 23.4 per cent and the South West at 20.4 per cent .
The report says: “This trend is alarming, especially considering that while dental decay rates have been declining or plateauing in England and the South West, Swindon's rates have been increasing.
“Tooth extractions due to decay are a significant concern, being the leading cause of elective hospital admissions in children aged 5 to 9 years old nationally and locally. Swindon consistently demonstrates higher rates of hospital tooth extractions compared to both the South West and England averages, with rates notably elevated in the 6-10 age group.
When it comes to a healthy weight, activity and healthy eating the report said: “At the end of primary school, children and young people in Swindon were found on average to carry more excess weight and have obesity than in other areas.
“Poor oral health and excess weight are strongly linked to deprivation and can also impact CYPs’ mental health and ability to learn. Excess weight and obesity prevalence increase with age and girls and young women are disproportionately affected.
At year 6 in school 36.8 per cent of Swindon’s children are classified as being overweight or obese, which is marginally higher than the England average of 26.6 per cent – but is four percentage points higher than the South West average.
But children and young people are more active than most of their peers. In the last year 54.2 per cent of Swindon’s 5- to 16-year-olds meet the target of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, better than both the South West at 50.8 per cent and England at 47 per cent.
Levels were higher, at 60 per cent, before the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, but appear to be bouncing back.
The report said there are: “Concerns around engagement and achievement in education.
“By the end of reception, children’s development in Swindon is below the national average – a trend that is then reflected across subsequent educational attainment and worsening at Key Stage Five.”
It means that six per cent of school leavers do not continue with their education, or enter employment or training, higher than the national and regional average.
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