Private school pupils 70% less likely to be overweight
Children at Guernsey's fee-paying schools are 70% less likely to be unhealthily overweight than their contemporaries from States-run schools, according to a new report.The Guernsey Child Measurement Programme report found nearly 29% of children in States-run schools were either overweight or obese, compared to fewer than 17% of those from private schools.Dr Nicola Brink, director of public health, said the States needed to "focus more" on "health inequality".Dr Brink said previous studies had shown "the cost and time needed to prepare healthy foods" were barriers to healthy eating so "healthy choices are not always easy or possible for some islanders".
The study used for the latest States' report, examined data from children in year one (five to six year olds) and year five (nine to ten year olds).It found more than one in four of Guernsey's year five children had "unhealthy levels of excess weight", with 11.1% overweight and 17.2% classed as obese.Among year ones, the figure dropped to one in five, with 10.4% obese.Jenny Cataroche, head of health intelligence, said: "While the absolute levels of excess weight among primary school-aged children are still concerning, the change over time, the stabilisation and reduction which we are currently seeing is positive."
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The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘These deaths are not inevitable': state gun control laws reduce children's firearm deaths, study shows
Guns have been the leading cause of death among US children since 2020. A new study shows a clear path to addressing this scourge and saving kids' lives: state gun control laws. The study, published this month in Jama Pediatrics, reveals that states which enacted stricter gun control measures following the 2010 McDonald v Chicago supreme court ruling – a landmark decision that struck down Chicago's ban on handguns and, in effect, expanded the second amendment nationwide – have seen a relative decrease in firearm deaths among children aged up to 17. By contrast, states that expanded gun freedoms have seen a notable increase in kids' deaths from gun violence, including by homicide, by suicide and from accidents. This means that commonsense gun policies make a difference when it comes to keeping kids safe, said Nick Suplina, senior vice-president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. 'This study sends a message that lawmakers that refuse to take action or who further loosen gun laws are putting kids' lives in peril,' he said. 'That's a very powerful outcome for an academic study.' To conduct their study, researchers divided states into three categories – least permissive, more permissive and most permissive – based on the strength of their gun control laws. They then used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to look into individual states' rates of pediatric firearm deaths (deaths from gun violence among children ages 0-17) over a 12-year span. What they found was a striking degree of overlap among states based on legislation enacted. In more permissive states, such as Mississippi and New Hampshire, pediatric death rates rose substantially more than expected, especially among children of color. '[We saw] so many excess deaths over and above what would have been expected,' said Jeremy Faust, an emergency room physician and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard University, and the study's lead author. But in states that passed stricter laws – such as background checks, permitting and safe-storage requirements – rates either stayed stagnant or fell. That finding surprised Faust, who anticipated that every state would see at least some increase since the number of kids killed by guns in the US has risen so sharply over the past decade. California, New York and Maryland, all of which have assault weapon bans and safe-storage laws, saw decreased rates of pediatric firearm mortality. And Rhode Island, which requires would-be gun owners to pass a firearm safety course to buy a handgun, saw a 60% drop in gun-related deaths among children. 'These deaths are not inevitable,' said Shriya Bhat, a second-year molecular biology student at Harvard and an author of the study. 'Policy choices matter, and we can learn from the places that have kept kids safer.' Gun policy experts say that research like this, which treats gun violence as a public health concern and considers the impact of on-the-books legislation from a scientific perspective, is desperately needed. 'The insights of the medical community are vital to educating policymakers and the public about the need to address the public health crisis fueled by unregulated access to firearms,' said Nick Wilson, senior director for gun violence prevention at the Center for American Progress. (The White House recently removed former surgeon general Vivek Murthy's advisory on gun violence as a public health issue, and has also slashed funding for gun violence research.) Experts also stress the need for lawmakers to translate knowledge into action. That means prioritizing measures that keep all of society safe from gun violence, such as universal background checks, as well as laws that protect kids specifically, such as safe-storage regulations. 'We really need policymakers to step up,' said Kelly Drane, research director at the Giffords Law Center. Suplina added that moving the needle on policy would require dampening the influence of the country's for-profit gun lobby, which perpetuates the narrative that guns make a society safer – a myth he hopes this study can help dispel. 'Literally the exact opposite is true,' he said. 'If more guns made us safer, the US would be the safest country in the world by far. Instead, we have a homicide rate that's 25 times that of our peer nations.' Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion But a lack of gun control legislation doesn't mean individuals can't change their own behaviors to keep kids safe. Parents who own guns can safely store their firearms and ask other parents whether there are guns in the house before permitting a playdate, said Drane, much like a parent might ask if another family has a fence around their pool. 'It doesn't have to be a conversation about whether or not it's OK to own firearms, but just knowing that there's a plan in place to keep kids safe in the home is really important.' Nonetheless, researchers and experts are hopeful that political gulfs can be crossed by focusing on how policies can save the lives of children. 'We've seen a lot of public health successes that have been bridged by focusing on the impact of public health threats on children,' said Drane. 'I'm hopeful that research like this can help change minds.' For Faust, who witnessed children die from gunshot wounds first-hand while training in a Queens, New York, trauma center, addressing the epidemic of gun violence is deeply tied to his work as a physician. 'I am interested in how choices we make as a society can have a massive impact on the way we live and die,' he said. 'When you save the life of a kid, think about the decades of life you are giving back.'
The National
6 days ago
- The National
8 Palestinians killed by IDF shooting near aid site in Gaza
Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire around dawn towards crowds of desperate Palestinians heading to two aid sites in Rafah. Experts and aid workers say Israel's blockade and military campaign have caused widespread hunger and raised the risk of famine. The shooting happened hundreds of metres away from the sites, which are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group that Israel and the United States hope will replace the United Nations-run system of aid distribution. READ MORE: UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Israel as Iran strikes escalate The UN has rejected the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles. There have been near-daily shootings near the sites since they opened last month. Witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on the crowds and health officials say scores have been killed. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at what it says were suspects approaching its forces. 'There were wounded, dead, and martyrs,' Ahmed al-Masri told The Associated Press on Sunday as he returned from one of the sites empty-handed. 'It's a trap.' READ MORE: Why did Israel attack Iran and have they again broken international law? Umm Hosni al-Najjar said she joined the crowd heading to the aid point in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood at around 4.30am local time. She said the shooting began as people were advancing to the site a few minutes after her arrival. 'There were many wounded and martyrs,' she said. 'No-one was able to evacuate them.' The Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis said it received eight bodies after the shooting. The aid system rolled out last month has been marred by chaos and violence, while the UN system has struggled to deliver food because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order., despite Israel loosening a total blockade it imposed from early March to mid-May. Israel and the US claim Hamas has siphoned aid off of the UN-run system, while UN officials say there is no evidence of systematic diversion. The UN says the new system does not meet Gaza's needs, allows Israel to control who gets aid and risks further mass displacement as people move closer to the sites. Two are in the southernmost city of Rafah – now mostly inhabited – and all three are in Israeli military zones that are off limits to independent media.
North Wales Chronicle
6 days ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 20 as war rages on
The 20-month war with Hamas has raged on even as Israel has opened a new front with heavy strikes on Iran that sparked retaliatory drone and missile attacks. Another 11 Palestinians were killed overnight near food distribution points run by an Israeli and US-supported humanitarian group in the latest of almost daily shootings near the sites since they opened last month. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have fired on the crowds, while the military says it has only fired warning shots near people it describes as suspects who approached its forces. The sites are located in military zones that are off limits to independent media. Israel's military said it fired warning shots overnight to distance a group of people near troops operating in the Netzarim corridor, and an aircraft struck a person who kept advancing. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private contractor that operates the sites, said they were closed on Saturday. But witnesses said thousands had gathered near the sites anyway, desperate for food as Israel's blockade and military campaign have driven the territory to the brink of famine. Al-Awda Hospital said it received eight bodies and at least 125 wounded people from a shooting near a GHF site in central Gaza. Mohamed Abu Hussein, a resident of the built-up Bureij refugee camp nearby, said Israeli forces opened fire toward the crowd about a kilometre (half-mile) from the food distribution point. He said he saw several people fall to the ground as thousands ran away. In the southern city of Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital said it received 16 dead, including five women, from multiple Israeli strikes late on Friday and early on Saturday. It said another three men were killed near two GHF aid sites in the southern-most city of Rafah, now a mostly uninhabited military zone. An Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, killed four people, Al-Aqsa Hospital said. Meanwhile, Israel's military said two projectiles came from Gaza and fell in open areas, with no injuries. Israel and the US say the new aid system is intended to replace a UN-run network that has distributed aid across Gaza through 20 months of war. They accuse Hamas of siphoning off the aid and reselling it to fund its militant activities. UN officials deny Hamas has diverted significant amounts of aid and say the new system is unable to meet mounting needs. They say the new system has militarised aid by allowing Israel to decide who has access and by forcing Palestinians to travel long distances or relocate again after waves of displacement. They say the UN has struggled to deliver aid even after Israel eased its blockade last month because of military restrictions and rising lawlessness. Hamas, which is allied with Iran, sparked the war when its fighters led a rampage into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. They still hold 53 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of the population of some two million Palestinians, leaving them almost entirely reliant on international aid. The war has drawn in Iran and its other allies across the region, igniting a chain of events that led to Israel's major strikes on Iran's nuclear and military facilities on Friday.
