Campaign to bar under-14s from having smartphones signed by 100,000 parents

An online campaign committing parents to bar their children from owning a smartphone until they are at least 14 has garnered 100,000 signatures in the six months since its launch.The Smartphone Free Childhood campaign launched a “parent pact” in September in which signatories committed to withhold handsets from their children until at least the end of year 9, and to keep them off social media until they are 16.Daisy Greenwell, a cofounder of Smartphone Free Childhood, said parents had been put in an “impossible position” by the weak regulation of big tech companies, leaving them with a choice of getting their children a smartphone “which they know to be harmful” or leaving them isolated among their peers.“The overwhelming response to the parent pact shows just how many families are coming together to say ‘no’ to the idea that children’s lives must be mediated by big tech’s addictive algorithms,” she said.The biggest regional backing of the pact is in Surrey, where there have been 6,370 signatories, followed by Hertfordshire, where the city of St Albans is attempting to become Britain’s first to go smartphone-free for all under-14s

‘First-of-a-kind’ daily pill for endometriosis treatment approved for NHS in England

A new daily pill that could transform the way endometriosis is treated has been approved for use on the NHS across England, the medicines watchdog has announced.About 1,000 women a year living with endometriosis will be able to access relugolix-estradiol-norethisterone. The “first-of-a-kind” treatment, which was initially rejected by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), works by blocking the specific hormones that contribute to endometriosis while providing necessary hormone replacement.The medication eliminates the need for multiple medications and regular trips to clinics for injections.Unlike current injectable treatments which can initially worsen symptoms, the pill can be taken at home, works more quickly and combines hormones in one pill

Marriage triples risk of obesity in men – but not women, study reveals

Marriage triples the risk of obesity for men, but does not affect women, according to research.Global obesity rates have more than doubled since 1990, with more than 2.5 billion adults and children classed as being overweight or obese. Worldwide, more than half of adults and a third of children are predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050.While poor diet, inactivity, genetics, environmental toxins and underlying health conditions are known to increase the risk, scientists at the National Institute of Cardiology in Warsaw, Poland, wanted to study whether other factors were also relevant

We need smaller councils, not larger ones | Letters

For blinkered politicians in the Westminster bubble, perhaps the country can be easily divided into neat new portions (Voters like councillors more than MPs – so why is Labour wasting time destroying local democracy?, 3 March). Urban centres will benefit because their local representatives can carry on supporting a reasonably homogenous area. But for the Isle of Wight, the prospect of integration with Hampshire is a disaster.It’s bad enough that successive governments have been indifferent to our unique circumstances, happy to persistently underfund our schools and medical facilities, and overlook the catastrophic effect of excessively expensive ferry travel, while pouring billions into other cities’ transport. We have paid our taxes, yet it seems everyone else benefits from subsidies that we contribute to

I am an anti-domestic abuse advocate – but I failed to recognise it happening to me and my family

When I met Steven*, I’d recently left an unhealthy relationship. He was an acquaintance initially, and our connection developed slowly and organically. There was no pressure, only support and patience from a man I felt completely at ease with.At the time, awareness of non-physical domestic violence – such as coercive control, financial abuse, stalking and other forms of psychological abuse – had been increasing. Extensive media coverage and the sharing of deeply personal stories are what helped me recognise what was wrong in my previous relationship and leave it

Under-eights should not drink slushies containing glycerol, say doctors

Children under eight should not drink slushies containing glycerol, paediatricians have warned.Public health advice on their safety may need revising after a review of the medical notes of 21 children who became acutely unwell shortly after drinking one of the iced drinks, doctors concluded.Their findings were published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. They showed that in each case the child became acutely unwell with a cluster of symptoms soon after drinking a slushie.The children fell ill as a result of what the study referred to as glycerol intoxication syndrome, which caused symptoms such as decreased consciousness and low blood sugar