How are the kids? Improving population child health and development

Imagine a future where toddlers are given individual health programmes to optimise health and development based on the latest research into public health and personalised medicine. Would this help pick up and even prevent big areas of concern for modern paediatrics, from mental health to allergies?
Preventative childcare dates back to the 19th century’s Boer war, where 40% of the recruits were unfit to be listed, prompting the first survey of healthcare in young people. However, real scientific input only came almost 100 years later.Professor Mitch Blair was part of this early community to rigorously assess the value of these programmes culminating in the Healthy Child programme – a pregnancy to adolescent national health programme and a universal health and educational review of all 2 year olds nationally, In his inaugural lecture he will be describing how we can develop a system that optimises the the prevention of disease and promotion of child and youth health and how the UK compares internationally in primary child healthcare.
Biography
Professor Mitch Blair qualified in medicine MBBS from UCH, London in 1983. Paediatric training posts were at Stoke Mandeville, Charing Cross Hospital, Great Ormond Street, Northwick Park, and Nottingham. After obtaining an MRC training fellowship and MSc in Community Paediatrics from the Institute of Child Health in London, he moved to Nottingham as Consultant Senior Lecturer in Community Paediatrics 1990-98. He worked in inner city community practice in health centres, schools, day nurseries and specialist out-reach to single handed and group practices. He carried out teaching and research into the national child health screening programme and community paediatric out reach to primary care. He returned to London in 1998 and established the River Island Academic Centre for Paediatrics and Child Public Health Teaching and Research at Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Imperial College London, His research interests include complementary medicines use in children, international child health indicators, child public health monitoring, and health service evaluation. He coauthored the Manual of Community Paediatrics, and the first textbook on Child Public Health. He was seconded to the DH in England in 2009-10, was the first Officer for Health Promotion for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health between 2010-2015 and is currently PI for an EU H2020 project, MOCHA, appraising primary child health care across 30 countries in Europe.