My Health, Our Future - Part one

Healthwatch Suffolk undertook a further wave of their research about the wellbeing of children and young people in Suffolk.  4,889 children and young people responded to a survey.  The survey took place between April and July 2022. This year’s results are split into three reports.  This is the first report of three.

Key findings included:

• Children and young people reporting an increase in online bullying and bullying at school
• Young people in Suffolk continue to report lower wellbeing scores than the national average.  Male students were
• Nearly a third reported feeling cheerful rarely or not at all. Male students reported higher average wellbeing scores than female students.  Young people who preferred to describe their gender in a different way were the most likely to have low wellbeing. Young people who identified as heterosexual had a considerably higher wellbeing score than LGBQ students. Students with additional needs and young people from the Black African, Caribbean and Black British communities reported the lowest wellbeing scores by ethnicity.
• One in five children felt loved none of the time or rarely.  The groups of young people who were more likely to be in this category included LGBQ and young people who preferred to describe their gender in a different way.
• Three in five young people had low resilience.  Female students and students who described their gender in another way were more likely to report low resilience.
• Two in five young people  have moderate to severe levels of anxiety. Female, LGBQ and vulnerable students were more likely to experience this. Anxiety affected multiple aspects of their lives, including eating habits, social interaction, trouble sleeping and loneliness.