In February 2025, the Mental Health Foundation and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) co-hosted a national workshop on childhood health inequalities.
More than 40 experts from the public, voluntary and academic sectors came together to identify and bridge gaps between research, policy, and practice and jointly confront a stark reality: Scotland’s children continue to face profound and preventable health inequalities.
The injustice of health inequalities
Health inequalities are unfair and unjust and pass from one generation to the next –
perpetuating unfair differences in health and life chances. Health inequalities also carry
wider economic and societal costs.
In Scotland, children in the most deprived areas are:
Actionable, real-life solutions
Findings from the workshop on childhood health inequalities highlight the urgent
need for a more cohesive and inclusive approach to addressing the systemic and multifaceted challenges affecting children’s health in Scotland.
The workshop called for:
- Enhanced collaboration across sectors
- Inclusive and accessible data practices
- Greater emphasis on early intervention and upstream solutions
- Policy co-design with relevant communities
For a full report on the national workshop, including the recommendations: