Covid-19: Pandemic has disproportionately harmed children’s mental health, report finds

A generation of children and young people are at risk of being left behind because of a combination of soaring waiting times for health services and the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on their mental health, a new analysis has warned.1

Data analysed by QualityWatch, a joint programme between the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation, show that the impact of covid-19 has led to an unprecedented increase in demand for mental health services for children and young people in England, most notably for eating disorders.

Jessica Morris, researcher at the Nuffield Trust, said, “In many ways, the wider effects of the pandemic and nationwide lockdowns on children and young people have been …