In a week of good news on child poverty policy, here's new research on the impact of poverty on teenager's mental health + how strong family relationships can mitigate that.

With the government's health mission missing in action, @jenniferthf.bsky.social​ & @thekingsfund.bsky.social​ Sarah Woolnough reflect on diluted ambitions & call for a prevention revolution Read our full response⬇️

New @healthfoundation.bsky.social blog from Nicholas Kofi Adjei (@liverpooluni.bsky.social). ...showing how family circumstances influence young people’s mental health AND the protective effects of good emotional support. www.health.org.uk/features-and...

Young people's mental health is under serious strain. Although emotional support from parents etc is crucial, it's often missing from media and policy debate. NEW paper with evidence on the value of emotional support & how factors like poverty and employment affect it & what govt should do.

For anyone interested in health inequalities, this POSTnote briefing is well worth a read. It's on regional differences in Healthy Life Expectancy - but takes a broad perspective - looking at what causes disparities and options to tackle them. post.parliament.uk/research-bri...

In its 10 Year Health Plan, the government recommitted to halving the gap in healthy life expectancy (HLE) between the poorest and richest regions. But how? Our new analysis with the ONS points to the underlying factors which any plan will need to take account of. 🧵

Health inequalities are cutting lives short by up to 16 years in parts of the UK. 🔴 We don’t think this is fair – and neither do the 7️⃣7️⃣ Health Equals Parliamentary Champions. Tomorrow, we're heading to Parliament to reflect on how to #MakeHealthEqual a reality. Stay tuned for more. 👀

Is it new news that the government plans to "restore the value of Healthy Start from financial year 2026 to 2027" - as set out in the 10 Year Plan? I'd not spotted that before, but could have missed it

NHS 10-year plan announces a "moonshot to end the obesity epidemic". So what's in it?

Great to see the new report (supported by @healthfoundation.bsky.social)‬ from FrameWorksUK on how mindsets that underpin public attitudes are shifting frameworksuk.org/resources/mo... Lots more interesting insights in the paper, but some key points below... 🧵

Three observations from Wes Streeting’s health inequalities speech in Blackpool that I went to this morning 🧵

What happened to the government’s health mission? Good health isn't just built in hospitals but shaped by living conditions - from adequate income to secure housing. Alex Kennedy outlines the need for a cross-government plan to improve health and reduce health inequalities⬇️ https://bit.ly/3TorQHg

So we've had the Spending Review and the 10 Year Plan is due soon. But what about a *cross government* plan for health? My blog hoping that the govt rediscovers some of the ambition and breadth of the original health mission. www.health.org.uk/features-and...

Useful graph to get a snapshot of departmental (non capital) spending and priorities.

NEW: Our analysis with @lshtm.bsky.social highlights how the UK’s health compares increasingly poorly with other high-income countries. The findings show that improvement is both possible and urgently needed ⬇

Reflections from our #healthinequalities conference, so much positivity, challenge and the raw materials for change - currently missing a clear #plan, #framework or #strategy to reach the govt's welcome goal of halving the healthy life expectancy gap www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

Today we’ve published research on rumoured options for easing the 2-child limit without fully scrapping it. In short, none of the options rumoured to be on the table is an acceptable solution and most would bring cliff edges or distortions into the system www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Announcement today that Govt consulting on strengthening the Soft Drink Industry Levy - closing 21 July: www.gov.uk/government/c... Ministerial statement here: questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

A tricky thing about modern society is that no one has any idea when they don’t die. Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.

Excellent new paper from Demos and @healthfoundation.bsky.social setting out the practical steps govt should take to create a new classification for preventative spending (PDEL). Easily the most detailed plan published to date demos.co.uk/research/cou...

Went to the speech this morning. A few thoughts. TL;DR - I thought it was really good, but of course lots of tricky challenges to work through. 🧵

Chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty will oversee the management of the Department for Health [AND SOCIAL CARE!] pending the appointment of a new Permanent Secretary. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Over the last 30 years, obesity levels have doubled while politicians on all sides have tried and mostly failed to get a grip on the problem. Too often obesity reduction policies were abandoned, derailed, watered down or lost in the system. What went wrong? www.nesta.org.uk/report/nouri...

Ok, I've caved & joined the starter pack bandwagon These are people who will be interesting & useful to follow as the new government sets out its plans around social security, work & poverty Sorry if I've missed off good people - will add to it as more come to mind or join go.bsky.app/8WEVftJ

Updated with some of the new joiners 60+ organisations to follow who provide analysis and commentary relevant to health and health inequalities go.bsky.app/7teKEPq

👋 We’re an independent charitable organisation working to build a healthier UK. Follow us here to stay up to date on: ➡️ our latest research and analysis ➡️ blogs and features about our work ➡️ news of our events ➡️ programmes and funding opportunities Find out more about our work at www.health.org.uk

Been adding PH folks to the UK PUBLIC HEALTH Starter Pack all weekend ⤵️ I am still finding new people to add and people keep joining, so please keep suggesting adds ✨ go.bsky.app/Tuf8yqX

I've made a starter pack of all the UK think tanks I could find on bluesky so far, and staff working at them. If I'm missing any organisation/any one please do comment below so I can add in 😊 go.bsky.app/Geu9Jd8

Buried in the budget announcements is the news that the govnt plan to uprate the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and review its exemptions. Helpfully summarised here: www.sustainweb.org/news/oct24-a... (thanks for bring to my attention @martinwhite33.bsky.social!)

Good to see Red Book says spending review will be "mission led", not just business as usual approach via depts. Also says that it will be "tech enabled" & "reform driven". Would be even better if bit on what "reform driven" means for health talked about the x-govt bit, not just the NHS Plan

*New* #briefing from Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and @thekingsfund.bsky.social on #English #devolution and #healthinequalities - potential and pitfalls. Part of a longer-term project supported by The Health Foundation. cles.org.uk/publications...

Great short summary from Louise Marshall on Health Foundation funded work by Frameworks UK on: -understanding mindsets on health -how to frame messages - a current project tracking how mindsets on health are changing www.health.org.uk/news-and-com...

A reminder that the expected change to the Work Capability Assessment is a straightforward benefit cut. 450k claimants, the majority from low-income households, will lose upto £4,990 per year. This wont curb "spiralling inactivity": the OBR expects just 3% of affected claimants to move into work.

Whether public back action to improve health is a hot topic. So great to have *new evidence* - of green shoots in public mindsets. More understanding that *health = a collective resource *society shapes health *whole government approach important. frameworksuk.org/resources/mo...

Is welfare spending 'out of control'? My dive into why this is a misleading claim... open.substack.com/pub/inequali...

What role can Health Impact Assessments play in improving health through spatial planning? Here are some reflections based on work I've been doing with colleagues as part of the TRUUD project (and you can see all the films by following the link in the post below): thedeveloper.live/opinion/just...