Child health

The World Health Organisation will today accuse food companies of finding ways to bypass the rules on advertising unhealthy products to children and fuelling the obesity crisis.

A report by the body claims that attempts by the authorities in Britain to crack down on marketing to children through television advertising are not enough to protect them, as while there are tough rules on children’s programmes there are not on shows such as Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor, which are widely watched by younger viewers.

Maternity wards in England are shutting their doors more than 1,000 times a year due to a lack of capacity and staff shortages, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Units in some NHS trusts are closing every other day.

Shortages of midwifes, consultants and anaesthetists as well as a lack of beds were cited as the main reasons for the closures.

The data suggests that at least 2,370 closures took place during the last two years.

The Health Secretary said local councils must act to stop a "shocking" postcode lottery in health, which means people are much more likely to die young in some areas than others.

Mr Hunt said almost 30,000 lives could be saved if Britain had the same record as Switzerland on tackling the causes of early death, which include obesity, smoking and alcohol.

Detecting early damage to a child's heart following chemotherapy is possible using MRI scans, says a study from Canada.

Even when children's heart function appeared to be normal, a new MRI method of mapping the heart was able to identify damage, University of Alberta researchers said.

A UK cardiologist said the impact of anthracycline treatment on children's hearts was only now being understood.

Early detection was crucial, he said.