Almost three times more Kirklees children are struggling with mental health than five years ago
Children's health across Kirklees and West Yorkshire has worsened since the pandemic, as more children seek mental health support and obesity rates rise.
Across the country, many children were hit hard by the Covid pandemic, with schools struggling to keep up and education outcomes dropping. In addition, children's health has also suffered since the pandemic.
One area which has worsened is children's mental health, with more young people seeking mental health support in West Yorkshire and country-wide.
Figures from NHS Digital show 21,570 under-18s were in contact with mental health services under the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. This is a massive rise from 7,955 in June 2019, the latest comparable period from before the pandemic.
This means the number of children receiving mental health support has almost tripled over five years. Nationally, 460,000 people were in contact with children and young people's mental health services in June, another figure which has more than doubled.
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The charity YoungMinds said youth mental health is a "huge problem society can no longer turn away from". Chief executive Laura Bunt of the charity, said poverty, discrimination, insecure housing and academic pressure are all contributing to the stress young people face.
She said support must be "revolutionised", and called on the Government to introduce early support hubs across the country and have young people shape health services so care is accessible when they need it.
The Department for Health and Social Care said it will provide "specialist mental health support in every school and walk-in Young Futures hubs in every community".
Another area which has seen a serious impact since the pandemic has been childhood obesity rates. In Kirklees, 23.2% of Year 6 children were obese or severely obese in 2022-2023, up from 21.4% in 2019-2020.
Nationally, 22.7% of Year 6 pupils were obese, up from 21 before the pandemic. Just 21 out of 138 areas with comparable data saw a fall in the proportion of obese children.
Dr Mike McKean, vice president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said overweight children – which accounts for two in five primary school leavers – have a higher risk of chronic illnesses, mental health issues, and lower life expectancy.
The Government aims to cut childhood obesity rates in half by 2030, but Dr McKean said the root cause is poverty and deprivation, which "are robbing our children of a healthy adulthood before they even start school". The data also shows children living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to be obese as those living in the most affluent.
A DHSC spokesperson said: "We face a childhood obesity crisis, which is setting up children for an unhealthy life and putting greater pressures on the NHS.
"We will tackle these issues head on, including by banning junk food adverts targeted at children."
An NHS spokesperson said Covid-19 has had a "significant impact" on children's mental health. They said the NHS provides mental health support for more children and young people than ever before, and has rolled out hundreds of mental health teams in schools.
There have also been failures in diagnosis services for autistic children since the pandemic, with every area in England seeing an increase in the number of children waiting for a diagnosis after receiving a referral.
The proportion of children waiting at least 13 weeks, the recommended timeframe for a diagnosis, has increased in all areas except three. In West Yorkshire, there were 6,060 children with an open referral at the end of June, with 89% of them waiting for at least 13 weeks.
This is up from 85 waiting for an autism diagnosis in June 2019.
NHS England said it is carrying out more autism diagnoses than ever before, admitting Covid-19 has negatively impacted autistic children's mental wellbeing.
The DHSC said: "It is unacceptable that too many children and young people are not receiving the care they deserve but we are working to reform the NHS to make it fit for the future".