Children struggling to concentrate at school due to lack of sleep, MPs told

Sleep deprivation is a growing problem in schools, with pupils struggling to concentrate in lessons due to lack of sleep, MPs have been told.

Edward Timpson, minister for children and families, highlighted the issue while being questioned by MPs who are investigating the role of education in preventing mental health problems in children and young people.

Lack of sleep has been linked to children’s use of mobile phones and tablets late into the night, MPs sitting on the joint inquiry by the Commons health and education committees were told at Wednesday’s hearing.

Timpson said: “A big issue in schools now is around sleep deprivation. Children are not getting enough sleep and that causes problems concentrating.”

Doctors have previously reported a dramatic increase in children with sleep disorders; NHS data shows hospital attendances in England for under-14s have risen from almost 3,000 in 2005-06 to more than 8,000 in 2015-16.

MPs also raised concerns about the impact of social media on children’s mental health, with reports of widespread cyberbullying, and parents’ inability to protect their children.

Former government mental health champion Natasha Devon said neither teachers nor parents could keep up with the fast-moving technology and suggested schools needed IT experts to help children use social media safely.

“There is a gap in understanding between young people and their parents and teachers and the technology is developing faster than we can measure the psychological impact.

“Last year an extensive report on the impact Facebook had on self-esteem was published but teenagers aren’t on Facebook anymore. They’ve moved on to Instagram and Snapchat.”

The MPs heard that some schools try to tackle the problem by confiscating mobile phones for the duration of the day, but Devon – who founded the Self-Esteem Team – said children and young people were able to get round safety measures adults try to impose.

“I went into a boarding school where they removed their phones at the beginning of the day and handed them back at the end for a few hours – they all have two or three phones to circumnavigate that problem.

“There was an example where they gave a teenage boy the Fort Knox of laptops with every single parental control on it and challenged him to find some pornography. He did it in 30 seconds by Googling the Spanish word for pornography. They find ways around the safety measures that we put in.

“What schools need, I think, are experts in this field who are really up to date with the technology.”

Lady Tyler of Enfield, who chairs the Values-Based Child and Adolescent Mental Health System Commission agreed: “The technology is moving on at such a pace that many people, many parents, really don’t feel very well equipped to know what’s going on and how best to support their children.

“If there was that more specialist expertise in schools, I think schools would be very well advised to pass some of that on to parents in simple ways – tips on how to help manage their child’s use of social media and what the pitfalls are.”

She added: “For me what is particularly important to get across is a balance between screen time, physical activity, sleep and all sorts of things that contribute to overall wellbeing.”

Also giving evidence was Lord Layard, emeritus professor of economics at LSE, who is advising the government on a trial of weekly mindfulness classes in 26 schools.

Asked about the effectiveness of mindfulness, he said he believed in it and tried to practise it himself but added: “It’s only a part of the answer to this problem.”

He called for a “radical initiative” to support children with mild to moderate mental health disorders in a school-based setting, so they are seen early on before they become so seriously ill they reach the high thresholds required to be seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

“It’s important to realise just how bad a place we are in. We are in a situation where only 25% of children in psychological need are receiving any kind of psychological help. That has to to be changed.”

Children struggling to concentrate at school due to lack of sleep, MPs told

Uk help watchdog tells DfID to concentrate on quality of healthcare in Kenya

Women wait to see a doctor at a maternity hospital in Nairobi. The Uk has been urged to address shortcomings in the Kenyan healthcare technique. Photograph: David Levene

A government watchdog has named on the Department for Global Growth (DfID) to do a lot more to enhance the top quality of care at Kenyan overall health facilities right after recording patient complaints of petty corruption and “physical and emotional abuse” by employees.

In a report published on Friday, the Independent Commission for Assist Affect (Icai) explained it heard that some sufferers had been subjected to abuse by overall health employees even though investigating DfID’s contribution to tackling kid deaths in the country, which receives hundreds of thousands of pounds in Uk support each and every year.

“Beneficiaries complained of petty corruption and medicines not being given out, regardless of getting obtainable. They wanted to be handled with respect by health specialists but were frequently subjected to bodily and emotional abuse,” says the report.

“Several females with whom we spoke reported realizing a person who had died in labour or who had lost her little one during pregnancy or labour. Severe examples cited to us incorporated youngsters dying in queues at the hospital. A single girl described how her cousin died after delivering late in the evening when there were couple of workers. Staff had failed to deal with this girl effectively after delivery.”

Icai commissioner Mark Foster, who travelled to Kenya as component of the watchdog’s investigation, explained he noticed minor evidence that programs had been in place to gather suggestions from communities. “We heard an awful great deal of quite true and heart-rending stories about the high quality of care that folks are receiving,” he mentioned, adding that the rollout of cost-free healthcare has place a huge strain on providers.

Icai’s report, which acknowledges that DfID is operating below tough problems in Kenya, warns that programmes appear to have focused a lot more on the department’s personal functionality targets than the concerns and priorities of nearby communities.

“The emphasis on quantitative outputs risks losing connection with the most crucial outcomes for intended beneficiaries. It promotes a target on the provision of bednets and other commodities rather than working on core health programs,” it says.

Foster stated DfID funding had made a distinction in the nation. But, he argued, the department must focus far more on strengthening the high quality of care, expanding companies in bad and remote places, and the “more difficult process” of building regional techniques for the lengthy-term.

DfID could, for example, supply technical assistance to aid communities hold service suppliers to account, said Foster.

In addition to reviews of abuse by wellness workers, particularly at larger referral centres, Icai explained it spoke to people who claimed they had been asked to buy medicines outside well being amenities, at substantial charges, that should have been available for totally free.

Other individuals reported difficulties in accessing overall health providers, higher consumer charges and lack of workers, especially at night.

Icai targeted its evaluation on 5 core wellness programmes funded by Uk assist totalling £163m. The programmes, which tackle a range of troubles which includes malaria and vaccinations, have been working considering that 1999. The watchdog gave DfID’s contribution to reducing youngster mortality in Kenya an overall “green-amber” rating, meaning that programmes execute “reasonably well” on effectiveness and worth for money but that improvements are essential.

“[DfID"s] programmes have achieved impact in a tough context, and enhanced immunisation and the provision of bednets have saved lives. There are, even so, substantial weaknesses and regional disparities in standard wellness systems. DfID should focus much more on neonatal mortality, sustainability, overall health techniques strengthening and tough-to-reach areas,” it concluded.

The United kingdom is the third largest aid donor to healthcare in Kenya, but stopped investing cash via the government right after the 2007 elections and the discovery of significant fraud in the schooling sector in 2009. Other donors have also selected to bypass the government, and now roughly three-quarters of global support for healthcare in Kenya does not go through its price range.

Icai mentioned that worries about corruption meant it was the “proper choice” for DfID not to finance the Kenyan government right, and demonstrated the department’s dedication to great governance.

Nevertheless, this technique has its charges and has led to “parallel delivery programs which are effective but not sustainable,” said the report. “Every new generation needs immunisation. Malaria gains can very easily be reversed, with catastrophic benefits, if spraying, treatment or bednet usage are lowered. Bednets need to have to be replaced about every single three many years.”

In response to Icai’s report, a DfID spokesperson mentioned: “Working with partners like the International Fund and the International Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisations, Britain has played a substantial role in helping to reduced youngster mortality charges around the planet.

“We will function with Kenya’s government to develop a sustainable and independent healthcare technique and continue to look for standard feedback to make sure no a single is left behind.”

Uk help watchdog tells DfID to concentrate on quality of healthcare in Kenya