News and opinion

Welcome to our news and blogs section. Here you’ll find the latest developments and insights from across our longitudinal studies.

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News

Why is there a social divide in child obesity rates?

18 May 2016

Smoking during pregnancy and being overweight before becoming pregnant account for around 40 per cent of the social divide in childhood obesity rates.

News

Social disadvantage may prevent boys from escaping child obesity, study finds

4 May 2016

Obese boys from the least advantaged neighbourhoods are significantly less likely to lose weight over the course of primary school than their peers in better-off areas, according to new research.

News

Out of school activities improve children’s educational attainment, study reveals

20 April 2016

Participating in organised sports and joining after school clubs can help to improve primary school children’s academic performance and social skills, new research shows.

News

The changing behaviour of mixed ethnicity children

4 April 2016

Some groups of mixed ethnicity children experience an increase in behaviour problems as they are growing up, according to a new study.

News

One in seven 11-year-olds have tried alcohol according to new study

9 March 2016

Researchers from University College London (UCL) and the London School of Economics have found that nearly 14% of 11-year-olds had drunk more than a few sips of alcohol at least once. Children whose mothers drank heavily were 80% more likely to drink than children whose mothers did not drink and boys were more likely to […]

News

UK-wide reading campaign encourages parents in Northern Ireland to join their children at school

3 February 2016

Charities involved in the Read On. Get On. campaign have been working with a Belfast primary school to improve pupils’ reading skills.

News

Poorer children nearly three times as likely to be obese, new study finds

11 December 2015

New findings from the Millennium Cohort Study have questioned why poorer children are at higher risk of obesity compared to their better-off peers.

News

Children from poorer backgrounds more likely to have mental health problems

13 November 2015

Children whose parents are from poorer backgrounds are more likely to have diagnosable mental health problems, according to new research from the UCL Institute of Education and Centre for Mental Health.

Parental wealth in childhood and its relationship with children’s development and predictors of wealth in adult life

1 October 2015

For the first time in the history of the UK birth cohort studies, a short measure of parents’ financial assets and debts is available in childhood (Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), age 11) alongside measures of income. This research project aims to understand how parents’ long-term financial position shapes their children’s outcomes from an early stage.

News

Majority of fathers continue to see their child after separation, study finds

29 June 2015

More than four in five fathers still have contact with their child after they have separated from their partner, according to new research. However, dads who were more involved with parenting before a break-up are more likely to play a bigger role in their child’s future upbringing. The study, conducted by the University of Kent […]

News

One in eight UK pupils in Year 6 report having had an alcoholic drink

23 June 2015

A new study on underage drinking in the UK calls for further investigation into alcohol use among primary school children, and for prevention of underage drinking to be extended to this young an age

News

‘Stubborn’ group of underage drinkers buck overall decline in drinking among young people

17 March 2015

New research has found that children from less well-off families in the UK are more likely to experiment with alcohol while still in primary school than youngsters from more advantaged backgrounds.

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