Daily roundup 25 June: Energy drinks, psychotherapy, and gangs

Children will be banned from buying energy drinks under measures announced by the government that aim to halve the number of obese children by 2030. The Times reports that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government is considering an outright ban on the sale of energy drinks to children as part of plans to tackle obesity.


Children are being turned away from psychotherapy unless they are "acutely suicidal", a report has claimed. The Telegraph reports that a survey by the Association of Child Psychotherapists found that members were concerned that seriously mentally ill children were not being offered help unless they were threatening to kill themselves. Child and adolescent psychotherapists working within the NHS said that cases were "having to be re-referred several times and reaching a crisis point before being accepted", its report found.


More than 30,000 children aged between 10 and 15 now say that they are in gangs, research has found. The Times reports that children's commissioner for England Anne Longfield said analysis by her office showed that a total of 70,000 young people aged up to 25 are feared to be part of a gang network.


Hundreds of thousands of young people will take part in physical activities in schools, nurseries and at home this week as part of the Youth Sport Trust's National School Sport Week. Ali Oliver, chief executive of Youth Sport Trust said taking part in PE and school sport brings lifelong benefits in terms of health and wellbeing.