Under-25s' Health Should Be Targeted According To Report

Children and young people must be specifically targeted if Northern Ireland's health as a whole is to improve, according to the Public Health Agency's annual report.

The document, published today, stated that young people are facing problems like obesity, poor mental health, fuel poverty and smoking.

These problems affect adults too but, the report argued, fighting them early is "more effective and less costly" than waiting until later.

The report recommends a host of solutions, such as promoting breastfeeding and trying to prevent women smoking during pregnancy.

Nearly half of expectant mothers smoked while they were pregnant in some deprived parts of Belfast, the report found, which can leave young people with asthma or glue ear as well as hyperactivity disorders.

And almost a fifth of 11-16 year-olds have taken illegal drugs of some form.

But the authors of the report admitted that improving health for the 34% of Northern Ireland's population that is aged under 25 would not be easy.

The main obstacle in the way of rolling out ambitious public health schemes was the squeeze on budgets in the NHS.

The report read: "The need to spend more on prevention is clear, yet more difficult because of the budget pressure on service delivery. Improving health and wellbeing is also likely to be compounded by financial pressures experienced by other government departments whose policies will impact on health. Further welfare reform is expected to have an adverse impact on those who are most disadvantaged."

(NE)