Youth work ‘black holes’ in half of all council areas in England, study finds

Almost half of all council areas in England have youth work “black holes” with few or no services despite high levels of deprivation and antisocial behaviour, analysis shows.The first mapping in decades of youth centres across the country has revealed a nationwide crisis in youth support and significant inequality. Poorer areas in the north of England are shown to have been the worst affected by cuts to youth services since 2010.The research, produced by the charity funder Social Investment Business (SIB) and the University of Leeds, plotted youth services against the needs of the local population for the first time and found “a consistent picture of youth work black holes” across the country.Bethia McNeil, the director of quality and impact at the YMCA, the country’s largest youth charity, said: “Having this data is critical – we haven’t had anything like this in a very long time, probably since 2010, and youth provision has changed dramatically since then

One in 14 children who die in England have closely related parents, study finds

One in 14 children who died in England in a four-year period had parents who were close relatives, according to “stark” figures revealed by the first study of its kind.The figures, published by the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD), based at the University of Bristol, analysed all 13,045 child deaths in England between 2019 and 2023. Of these, 926 (7%) were found to be of children born to consanguineous parents, meaning the mother and father are close blood relatives, such as first cousins.Although the exact number of children with consanguineous parents across England is unclear, the data clearly shows their overrepresentation within mortality statistics and requires “urgent action”, according to researchers.The largest geographical estimate of consanguinity currently available is from a large study following the lives of 13,000 babies born in Bradford

Parents of children taken in to care should get more help, say experts after Victoria Marten death

Parents whose children are taken into care should receive trauma-informed support to reduce the risk of harm to any further babies they have, according to child protection experts.A national child safeguarding review, launched after the death of baby Victoria Marten, said that if “destructive cycles of harm are to be interrupted” there needed to be more focus on parents, as well as their vulnerable baby or unborn infant.Victoria died in January 2023 after her parents, Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner, Mark Gordon, took her to live in a tent in wintry conditions to evade social services. The child’s decomposed remains were found by police officers in March that year.The pair, who were jailed last September for 14 years for killing their newborn baby, had fled authorities to prevent Victoria being taken into care, as four older siblings had been previously, their Old Bailey case heard

Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds

Reading, writing and learning a language or two can lower your risk of dementia by almost 40%, according to a study that suggests millions of people could prevent or delay the condition.Dementia is one of the world’s biggest health threats. The number of people living with the condition is forecast to triple to more than 150 million globally by 2050, and experts say it presents a big and rapidly growing threat to future health and social care systems in every community, country and continent.US researchers found that engaging in intellectually stimulating activities throughout life, such as reading, writing or learning a new language, was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, and slower cognitive decline.The study author Andrea Zammit, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said the discovery suggested cognitive health in later life was “strongly influenced” by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments

Psychiatric drugs aren’t always the answer | Letter

Yes, there has been a shocking lack of progress in developing transformative psychiatric medicine (We need new drugs for mental ill-health, 5 February), but this may be because in mental health, drugs are not always the answer (see, for example, Richard P Bentall’s Doctoring the Mind).Huge progress has been made in the effectiveness of talking therapies – for example, free effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is available to all UK army veterans through the charity PTSD Resolution.What is lacking is rollout of the effective methods that now exist. This is an area where the UK is genuinely world leading. The Human Givens Institute is at the forefront of the development of effective, solution-focused, science-based therapies

Exercise can be ‘frontline treatment’ for mild depression, researchers say

Aerobic exercise such as running, swimming or dancing can be considered a frontline treatment for mild depression and anxiety, according to research that suggests working out with others brings the most benefits.Scientists analysed published reviews on exercise and mental health and found that some of the greatest improvements were observed in young adults and new mothers – groups that are considered particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.While aerobic group exercise emerged as the most effective physical activity for reducing depression and anxiety, low-intensity programmes that lasted only a couple of months may be best for anxiety, the researchers said.“Exercise can have a similar effect, and sometimes a stronger impact, than traditional treatments,” said Neil Munro, a psychologist at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. “Getting moving, in whatever shape or form works best for each person, can help mitigate depression and anxiety symptoms