From an explosion in young people being referred for emergency mental healthcare to a sharp increase in children having teeth extracted in hospital, current data reflects a worrying decline in children’s health in the UK. However, a growing network of researchers at Sheffield Hallam University are pioneering new studies aimed at reversing this alarming trend.
One of the most pressing issues, which is rarely out of the headlines, is the question of whether smartphones and tablets are negatively affecting the development and mental wellbeing of the nation’s children. And while parents and pundits worry over smartphone addiction among teenagers, and underage children using social media, a group of scientists is embarking on an ambitious £1.5m research project to establish, with hard evidence, the real impact of digital devices on young children’s development.
Prof Liane Azevedo, from Sheffield Hallam’s School of Sport and Physical Activity, is leading this landmark study, which will start by observing 1,400 children aged between three and five, to better understand how their use of tablets and smartphones affects their development.
“Between zero and five, there is greater plasticity in the brain – this is the time when children are developing their behaviour, their social skills, and their communication skills,” says Azevedo of the potential for these technologies to have a positive or negative impact on childhood development.
Before embarking on the study, Azevedo consulted parents and early years practitioners. “They told us that in recent years, they’d seen a change in how children are able to control their behaviour and communicate, and in levels of school readiness [how ready children are to start formal schooling]. But until now, the evidence for that has been largely anecdotal, which is why we need this study.”
Azevedo stresses that the researchers are going into the field without any preconceived ideas. She likens the current mood to the moral panic that ensued when televisions became widespread for the first time, but she says there is a difference with these devices because they are designed for solo use.
“I think the concern is how much this technology is replacing social play, and what effect that is going to have in the long term,” she says.
The project, which is a collaboration across several universities, is typical of Sheffield Hallam’s drive to be a global leader when it comes to children’s health. Prof Joanna Smith, who holds a joint role at both Sheffield Hallam and Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust as a leading researcher in nursing and child health, is proud of the way the region’s institutions are collaborating on genuinely innovative research.
“There seems to be a real drive in Sheffield to think about how we can improve the lives of children – their expectations, health outcomes and quality of life – and how we can reduce health inequalities in deprived areas, and really try to make a difference,” she says.
From the local council and social services through to Sheffield’s universities and hospitals, Smith says everyone is committed to joined-up working. “It means our research is both world-leading and benefiting the local community – and it’s giving the city an exciting buzz.”
The newly launched South Yorkshire Children and Young People’s Health Research network is a prime example of that collaboration. It brings together health professionals and academic experts from the region to improve children’s health outcomes.
So what does that research look like? As well as understanding how devices are affecting child development, current and recent studies include developing an AI chat bot to help children with diabetes manage their condition, digital buddies to support the wellbeing of children with disabilities, and a prototype app to help children with life limiting conditions think about their legacies. Indeed, thanks to its state of the art Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam has earned a reputation for being a leader in healthcare technology.
One of the biggest child health challenges facing all western countries is obesity, and on that front, Dr Catherine Homer, an associate professor of obesity and public health at Sheffield Hallam, is evaluating the current NHS services available to children living with obesity.
“It’s a £1.5m study, running over 32 months, looking at clinics that deal with the complications of excess weigh,” she says. “There are currently over 30 clinics based in hospitals across England and they have whole teams of specialists – from consultant paediatricians to psychologists and endocrinologists – to look at all the comorbidities that a child living with obesity might have. We want to know what’s working, in what circumstances and why, and our evaluation will help inform whether and how these clinics are funded in the future.”
Currently, one in three children who leave primary school in England are living with excess weight and/or living with obesity, and Homer is passionate about destigmatising the condition, which can lead to complications including type 2 diabetes, difficulty breathing while asleep and low self-esteem.
“We’ve engineered movement out of our daily lives – we can’t blame people for putting on weight because it’s hard to have an active life these days,” she says. “People living in more deprived areas are more likely to be affected by obesity and we want to know if the current services are reaching the children who need them the most.”
Importantly, children and young people who use the services have helped Homer and her team to design the research. “The service users are some of the most important people in our team. Lived experience is key,” she says.
Including and listening to children’s voices is at the heart of much of the research that’s currently coming out of Sheffield Hallam.
“We really like co-designing studies and listening to children and young people’s views because there is no point in doing research that isn’t going to meet their needs,” says Smith. “Children are about 20% of our population but they’re our future. Children’s health is a really important measure of how a society is doing.”
Find out more about how Sheffield Hallam University is solving health challenges
