Report shows shocking decline in child health

NEW FIGURES REVEAL SOARING RATES OF OBESITY AND TOOTH DECAY IN REGION'S YOUNGSTERS

- EMMA GILL

A SHOCKING new report says youngsters across Greater Manchester are being 'betrayed' by a society that is failing to provide a 'safe and healthy childhood' The region has boroughs where a quarter of reception-aged children are obese, where 40 per cent of five-yearolds have tooth decay.

Infant survival rates are worse than in 60 per cent of similar countries and vaccination rates have plunged below World Health Organization safety thresholds, threatening outbreaks.

For many families, it was Sure Start centres they used to turn to for support - whether that be parenting classes, stay and play, or baby weigh-in clinics. They could access help for immediate problems, like struggling to breastfeed, but also be signposted to other services.

When they closed, families found themselves struggling and alone.

Now, the report, from the Academy for Medical Sciences, lays bare exactly what impact it's had on our children and the picture is a bleak one.