Citation

Whitebread D. Lancet Child Adolesc. Health 2017; 1(3): 167-169.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S2352-4642(17)30092-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The growing crisis in children's mental health in the UK is widely recognised. Data from children's charities, including Childline and the UK National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, have shown substantial and worrying increases in demand for their support, with Childline reporting a 36% increase from 2013 to 2016 in calls from children seeking help for serious mental health issues. A 2016 report from Public Health England estimated that 695 000 children in England aged 5-16 years (ie, 10% of all children in England) had a clinically significant mental health illness. The conditions reported included anxiety, depression, conduct disorders, self-harm, and suicidal feelings. As the report described in some detail, such conditions are "a leading cause of health-related disabilities in [children and young people] and can have adverse and long-lasting effects", including drug abuse, criminality, and a life expectancy of 16-25 years less than the general population. However, what this report and much of the policy response lack is a serious consideration of the contribution that positive changes in children's life experiences might have had. Such an analysis might lead to valuable approaches to prevention of mental health problems.

One particular change that has been investigated in this context concerns the amount and quality of free time that children have to engage in their own, self-initiated activities and play. A range of available evidence indicates that free time use has greatly changed in the past few generations...

Language: en