Daily roundup 3 January: Health visitors, sugar, and LGBT discrimination

One in four babies born in the UK are not receiving mandatory checkups from health visitors during the first two years of their life. The Guardian reports that research by the government's commission on social mobility found that a fifth of babies do not receive the recommended reviews after they turn one, and one in four miss out at the age of two.


Children are consuming half their recommended sugar allowance before they even get to school in the morning. The Telegraph reports that officials at Public Health England have warned that the average child is eating the equivalent of three cubes of sugar every morning for breakfast.


A number of Christian fundamentalist schools have been downgraded by Ofsted after an investigation revealed children at some schools that follow the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum are taught that LGBT people are inferior and girls must submit to men. The investigation by the Independent also uncovered historic allegations of corporal punishment, exorcisms being performed on children and schoolgirls being "groomed" for marriage to much older men.


A total of 36 child asylum seekers who previously lived in the Calais refugee camp have issued a legal challenge to the Home Secretary. The Guardian reports that the children claim Amber Rudd acted unlawfully in the way she handled their applications. It is the first time children from the camp have taken individual legal action against the government.


Nearly 500 people have signed a petition set up to oppose the reduction in the number of children's centres in Reading. According to website getreading.co.uk, the closures are part of Reading Borough Council's plans to save around £400,000. Under the new model, there would be seven full-time children's centres, including four refurbished hubs that would focus on helping families with children under five and offer specific support for vulnerable families.


Primary school children in Coventry are at the centre of a nationwide anti-smoking campaign. The BBC reports that pupils from Earlsdon Primary School have drawn their own anti-smoking packaging ahead of the country's plain packaging rollout in May 2017. Public Health England said it hopes the message "resonates" with the country's seven million smokers.