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Published on 12th December 2016 by lauram

Welcome back to the news summary blog. This blog is published weekly at The Medic Portal and will keep you up to date with the key stories in health news. This post covers the main stories from 5th to 11th of December. This week a report was published that indicates NHS England are sending eating disorder patients to Scotland for treatment, a ban on junk food advertising on sites aimed at children and a new report outlining the health of the baby boomers generation.

News broke this week that NHS England are sending patients with eating disorders to Scotland for treatment. This is due to the fact that there is chronic bed shortages in England which means that they cannot get the treatment required. Many patients are being sent to residential care facilities in Glasgow and near Edinburgh. Mental health experts have voiced concern about the growing trend as they believe it could harm patient’s chances of recovery due to isolation and separation from their families. The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has criticised the practice and highlighted the NHS children and adolescent mental health services are the worst area of care in the NHS.

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The Committee of Advertising Practice have created new regulations to ban online adverts aimed at children for food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar.

The Committee of Advertising Practice have created new regulations to ban online adverts aimed at children for food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar. The rules are an attempt to tackle childhood obesity, especially as children are now spending more time online than ever before. However, critics say that the new rules do not go far enough as they do not ban advertisements on TV shows or on online platforms not specifically targeted at children. The ban is thought to mainly affect platforms such as YouTube and children’s games websites.  The new regulations hope to combat the recent figures that show a third of children in the UK were overweight or obese by the time they left primary school.

A new report commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, assesses the health of adults ages 50-70 known as the “baby boomers”. The report looked at data around social and health factors that impact this age group and it has provided some recommendations on how health services can support this group through the next phase of their lives. Relating to employment, the study showed that 42% of workers in this group have at least one medical condition. The most common conditions being musculoskeletal, circulatory and depression. The report highlights the importance of good working conditions for health and self-esteem. Coronary heart disease remains the top cause of death in this age group but life expectancy has increased. The rate of individuals that smoke has decreased since 20 years ago. However, although men are drinking less than the previous generation women are thought to be drinking more. Additionally, an increase in obesity rates have also been documented in this age group.

Words: Joelle

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