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Daily roundup: Boris Johnson's healthy schools, MMR for teenagers and youth debt fears

London's Mayor launches a healthy schools scheme; a call for catch-up vaccines for teenagers, and young people reveal debt fears, all in the news today.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched a campaign to promote healthy eating and physical activity among school children in the capital. The Healthy Schools London programme is backed by £600,000 over three years and will see schools being given awards for their efforts to make children healthier.

Public Health England has launched a MMR catch-up campaign in a bid to curb the measles outbreak, reports The Telegraph. The campaign is targeting 10- to 16-year-olds who have missed out on the jab due to the MMR scare. Cases of the disease are at their highest level for almost two decades in England and Wales with older children most at risk of infection.

More than two-thirds of 12- to 19-year-olds are worried about getting into serious debt, according to a poll of 50,000 young people by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The survey found that the number of 16 to 19 year olds who expect to end up with debts of £30,000 or more has jumped from seven per cent in 2007 to 44 per cent in 2011. The poll is part of the RBS MoneySense Research Panel project, which has been tracking young people’s financial attitudes since 2007.

Birmingham's cabinet member for children’s services has refused to rule out the possibility that the city's children’s social services will be rated inadequate for the fifth year running. The Birmingham Mail reports that Labour councillor Brigid Jones said the council was fully behind the city’s current improvement plans but noted that “we are moving to a new inspection framework”. Ofsted is expected to reinspect Birmingham’s children's services in September.

The charity Children in Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to provide more literacy support to children living in deprived areas. The call follows the publication of a Scottish Government report on children’s literacy and numeracy skills. While the report found most children performed well and enjoyed reading, those living in poorer parts of the country did less well.

And finally, the Pre-School Learning Alliance has published a guide to safeguarding and child protection in early years settings. The Safeguarding Through Effective Supervision guide provides an overview of safeguarding context, theory and practice.

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