Chapters
Our JSNA chapters consider the current and future health and social care needs of specific topics.
You can download the following topic-specific chapters as accessible Word documents:
- Emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people
- Obesity
- Special educational needs and disabilities
- Teenage pregnancy.
Resources
Here are some useful links for further information and data related to giving every child a good start in life. These resources are from external organisations, such as the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).
- OHID - Fingertips - Child and maternal health profile: presents data on a range of factors related to the health and wellbeing of pregnant women, children and young people
- OHID - Fingertips - NCMP and child obesity profile: highlights child weight status prevalence data from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), as well as contextual indicators relating to child obesity.
Context
There is good evidence that investing in early years services (0 to 5 years) is highly effective in terms of the impact on future health and wellbeing. What happens during pregnancy and early childhood has lifelong effects on many aspects of health and wellbeing, from obesity, heart disease and mental health, to educational achievement and economic status (income).
Ensuring that every child in Medway has a good start in life is therefore essential for the future health and wellbeing of people in Medway. Medway is doing well for some aspects of child health and wellbeing, and we must maintain and build upon this level of performance. For other aspects, such as smoking during pregnancy or childhood obesity, there are important and persistent issues where there are opportunities for improvement.
As children grow older and reach adolescence, they experience physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioural changes that can affect their physical and mental health. Schools and communities have a key role in supporting children through this transition period. This is particularly important as children begin to take more control of their own health and wellbeing, so that they can develop into healthy adults.