Children’s health

In its 2024 election manifesto (PDF), the Labour Party committed to “raise the healthiest generation of children in our history”. It added that a crucial part of the pledge was reforming the NHS to ensure mental health is given “the same attention and focus as physical health”.

Dr Simon Opher (Labour) proposed a debate on the ‘healthiest generation’ pledge to the Backbench Business Committee and identified several topics that could be discussed:

• maternal health and the post-natal period, including diet and baby food
• mental health and neurodiversity
• childhood vaccination rates
• obesity
• waiting lists for treatment, especially treatment for cancer.

Dr Opher also noted a ‘consensus statement’ on investing in child health services (PDF) had been published by bodies including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), National Children’s Bureau, NHS Providers and Barnardo’s.

This debate pack provides further information on those topics together with general information about government policy on children’s health. Health is a devolved matter and this debate pack focuses on the situation in England.