Daily roundup: Underage drinking, Universal Credit concerns, children's diets
Derren Hayes
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Call for alcohol ban for under-18s; Universal Credit "will not help most families", and children recommended to eat adult meals, all in the news today.
Children should be banned from drinking alcohol until they turn 18, a report by the European Parliament’s working group on quality of childhood has recommended. Traditional approaches such as introducing youths to the taste of alcohol to encourage moderation are dangerous and don't work, said the committee. The report's author, Dr Aric Sigman, fears early exposure to alcohol puts young people at heightened risk of developing addiction or depression, reports the Metro.
A joint report from the TUC and Child Poverty Action Group has found nine out of 10 families will gain nothing overall from the new Universal Credit system, with any gains wiped out by recent benefits cuts. They claim that disabled claimants in low-paid jobs could lose as much as £2,800 a year through the government's flagship welfare reform. They also told The Independent that requiring applicants to claim online and to make joint claims with their partners would complicate the process.
The average length of care proceedings in England and Wales fell last year to 49 weeks, the BBC reports. The reduction, from an average of 55 weeks in 2011, was revealed in new figures published by the Ministry of Justice, which also showed a steady decline throughout 2012. The government plans to introduce a 26-week limit for care proceedings through new legislation in the Children and Families Bill.
Children who eat adult meals is an important factor in predicting whether a child's future diet will be healthy, a study has suggested. Research from the University of Edinburgh found children's food was often less nutritionally healthy, because meals were "dumbed down", reports the Mail. The study of 2,200 five-year-olds found children who ate adult food tended to eat more healthily.
The BBC has announced it is to hold a "freestanding investigation" into how broadcaster Stuart Hall was able to abuse girls as young as nine while working at the corporation. Last week, Hall admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls, one aged nine. The BBC, which is in the middle of review of cultures and practices in the wake of the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal, said a separate investigation was needed to look at Hall's conduct.