Today the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health launched its State of Child Health – Northern Ireland report.

The State of Child Health report brings together data on 25 measures of the health of children in the United Kingdom (UK) – including Northern Ireland. It covers physical and mental health and some of the main determinants of health.

Main findings for Northern Ireland include:

• 23% of children are living in poverty
• 28% of children are overweight or obese
• Northern Ireland has the highest rate of child mortality across all age groups in the UK
• Breastfeeding rates at 6 to 8 weeks have increased by 2% since 2011/2012 but the rate remains low at 23% of mothers reporting breastfeeding at their 6 to 8 week health visitor review
• Northern Ireland have the lowest level of breastfeeding in the UK

The report makes recommendations to improve child health in Northern Ireland. These include:

• Adopting a "child health in all policies" approach to decision making and policy development
• Develop standards to ensure child health data is collected and can be analysed consistently with other UK data
• Implement the Child Poverty Strategy and ensure public health staff are supported to deliver services across Northern Ireland
• Provide targeted breastfeeding support and education, particularly to mothers from a lower socio-economic background
• Deliver personal, social and health education programmes to students in primary and post primary schools
• Expand child measurement programmes to measure children at birth, before school and in adolescence
• Commission and support services for weight management for children