October 2022 - Healthy lifestyle behaviours: Children www.wcpp.org.uk

In what follows, we outline the determinants of healthy lifestyle behaviours among children (people under the age of 18), policy context and levers, trends in the indicator data, and the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on children’s health and relevant determinants, as well as key considerations for developing the Milestone for Indicator 5. [...] Using a combination of the WHO framework and the broader social determinants of health model a number of key determinants of child health behaviours for in children in Wales were identified in relation to the behaviours captured in the National Indicator. [...] In addition to the direct health effects of Coronavirus, and possibly more significantly in the longer-term, over the past year the pandemic and associated restrictions introduced as public health precautions have impacted upon the ability of children in Wales to engage in healthy behaviours. [...] Worry and anxiety about the pandemic, the safety of friends and family and the impact on the future are contributing to a decline in the mental health of many children as the pandemic continues (UNICEF, 2020; YoungMinds, 2021). [...] How far the pandemic will affect the health behaviours of children in the future will depend on many factors including the ongoing trajectory of the pandemic, the responses of the Welsh and UK Governments, and the resilience of children.