75% of parents want teachers to speak about health

Three quarters of parents want their children’s teachers to be trained in conversations about mental and physical health at school, found a new report from the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH).

The new report argues that everyday conversations play a huge role in encouraging people to make better lifestyle choices, such as exercising more, eating healthily, and making steps towards getting mental health support. Looking at a sample of almost 2,000 adults, RSPH found that people would like to see more training to promote physical and mental wellbeing across a range of settings where the public and staff are regularly talking.

The report advocates for a national rollout of the Making Every Contact Count (MECC) approach across everyday settings like schools, workplaces, gyms, and care homes. Under the MECC approach, staff are trained to have short conversations about health-related topics with the aim of trying to prompt better lifestyle choices.

The approach argues that with the right training, teachers and other education staff could spot warning signs earlier on and prevent escalating physical and mental health issues in children and their families. One in five children and young people in England aged eight to 25 likely had a mental health issue in 2023.

The MECC approach believes that small behaviour changes at an individual level would overall have an impact on the UK’s health as the NHS struggles to cope with the demands of a childhood mental health crisis and rising levels of obesity.

Simon Dixon, health of policy and public affairs at the RSPH said: “There are millions of conversations that happen at schools every day that could have a major impact on student wellbeing if they evolved to include health.

“Children and young people are experiencing a health crisis, with mental health issues becoming more common and rates of obesity rising. With the right support, we can ensure that they don’t reach crisis point.

“Teachers and school staff already playing a key role in supporting their pupils. By giving them the support they need to talk confidently to their students about health, children, young people and their families can be encouraged to make healthy behaviour changes. Early interventions like MECC are key to ensuring the health of the next generation.”