health

As winter approaches, doctors in Devon are reminding people that by practising self-care, they can help themselves and reduce the need to use busy NHS services.

Self-care involves helping people to better understand how to look after minor illnesses or long-term conditions, and how to prevent ill health by choosing healthy options for...

Protect yourself and your baby by having the flu vaccine

Pregnant women in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay are being urged to have the flu vaccine now to protect themselves and their unborn baby from the deadly illness.

The UK Health Security Agency has warned that there could be a significant flu surge this winter coinciding with continuing or rising COVID-19 cases.

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• Almost half (42.8%) of 11–16-year-olds feel that lockdown has made their life worse (NHS)
• In 2020, one in six (16%) children aged 5 to 16 years were identified as having a probable mental disorder (NHS)
• The global estimates of child and adolescent mental illness observed in the
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In almost all of the cases the young person has shown no sign of having the virus, or only very mild symptoms.

It's important that...

Young people at risk of exploitation to be supported through 'taskforces' in 21 new areas

From: Department for Education and Vicky Ford MP

Vulnerable young people at risk of being drawn into crime or gangs will benefit from a funding boost to help them stay engaged with their education and out of harm.

Following commitments laid out in the Government’s Beating Crime...

• Struggling parents admit that ALMOST HALF of children try healthy foods and don’t like them
• Parents are losing the battle against healthy eating, with over a quarter giving up on getting their children to eat better.
• Sprouts, mushrooms, spinach, and millennial favourite avocado are among the most hated healthy foods for kids
• Almost a third of parents
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The End Child Poverty coalition has today published figures providing a new Child Poverty map of the UK. The new figures estimate that there are now parts of the South West where a third of children are growing up in poverty - compared to one in seven, in areas in the country with the lowest child poverty rates.

Although child poverty in the South West is not as high as other areas...

NEW REPORT REVEALS MORE THAN HALF OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 4 EAT TWO OR LESS FRUIT AND VEG A DAY

· Despite it taking up to 15 times to like a new food, over half of parents have given up and are resorting to hiding vegetables to trick their children

· JLS pop star turned farmer, JB Gill is fronting new healthy eating campaign ‘Good for planet. Good for me.’ by...

THE HIDDEN STRENGTH APP WILL HELP THE 43% OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH WEST CURRENTLY STRUGGLING WITH THEIR MENTAL HEALTH

• In the South West 43% of young people are suffering from something that affects their mental health
• Young people in the South West are more likely than any other region in the country to take up therapy if it didn’t cost money to access, with
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New book ' A Mind of Their Own: Building Your Child’s Emotional Wellbeing in a Post-Pandemic World ' - A toolkit for parents to nurture children’s resilience, amid what senior psychiatrist call a ‘terrifying’ mental health crisis.

“Children and young people are bearing the brunt of the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic, and are at risk of lifelong mental illness,” a report...