'Mind the Kids': an ACAMH podcast

This episode of the Mind the Kids podcast is called "Problem Eating in a Community Sample: The Thin End of a Wedge." Hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour, honorary consultant clinical psychologist and Child Development Programme Director at UCL, and Professor Umar Toseeb, Professor of Psychology at the University of York specialising in children and young people's mental health and special educational needs, are joined by Dr. Clara Faria from the University of Cambridge to discuss eating difficulties and eating disorders in young people.
Dr. Faria is the lead author of "The Prevalence of Eating Difficulties in Children and Young People in England: A Large, Cross-Sectional School Survey," published in JCPP Advances, one of ACAMH's journals. Drawing on 2023 data from the OxWell Student Survey — a large school-based survey led by Professor Mina Fazel — the study found that eating difficulties are common among secondary school students, with a weighted prevalence of 62.5% reporting at least one type of eating difficulty. Using the DAWBA screening items, the most endorsed difficulty was believing you were fat when others said you were thin (47.3%), while the least endorsed, but still striking, was self-induced vomiting (17.7%).
The conversation explores:
- The difference between disordered eating, problem eating, and clinically diagnosable eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder), OSFED, and binge eating disorder
- What the evidence says about the transition from disordered eating to a diagnosable eating disorder, including longitudinal and twin-study findings on body dissatisfaction and gender differences in risk
- Whether eating disorders sit within an internalising or externalising framework, and why binge eating disorder may not fit neatly into either
- The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on eating difficulties, body image, and screen time among young people
- What schools and clinicians can learn from family-based treatment and non-judgmental approaches such as the Body Project when supporting young people with problematic eating
This episode is essential listening for child and adolescent psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, researchers, educators, and school staff interested in youth mental health, eating disorders, body image, and evidence-based approaches to supporting young people with problem eating.
📄 Read the full paper, published in JCPP Advances: The prevalence of eating difficulties in children and young people in England: A large, cross-sectional school survey
Clara Faria, The OxWell Study Team, Mina Fazel, Emma Soneson, Tamsin J. Ford, Simon White
https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.70111
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#MindTheKids #EatingDisorders #ChildMentalHealth #AdolescentMentalHealth #BodyImage #YouthMentalHealth #EatingDisorderAwareness #ACAMH #MentalHealthResearch

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In this episode of Inside the Teen Brain, Dr. Jane Gilmour speaks with Rayne Huggins about the experience of being diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. Drawing on personal lived experience, Rayne reflects on what a diagnosis can mean for a young person and explores the pros and cons of receiving one. Together, they consider how a diagnosis can shape not only how a person understands themselves, but also their sense of identity and connection to a wider community. Honest and thought-provoking, the conversation offers a valuable first-hand perspective on living with Tourette syndrome and what diagnosis can come to represent.
Learning Objectives
A. To understand what it means to be diagnosed with tourette syndrome.
B. To explore pros and cons of attaining a diagnosis of tourette syndrome.
C. To explore how this may shape identity and community
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How does research actually change government policy? In this episode of Mind the Kids, hosts Dr Jane Gilmour (UCL) and Professor Umar Toseeb (University of York) sit down with Baroness Ruth Lister — Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Loughborough University, Fellow of the British Academy, and a Labour peer in the House of Lords — to unpack how evidence, political will and public appetite combine (or collide) to shape social policy for children living in poverty.
This conversation goes behind the headlines of the UK's child poverty strategy, including the abolition of the two-child benefit limit from April 2026 — a change expected to be the single biggest reduction in child poverty any UK government has delivered at a stroke, after CPAG research linked the policy to roughly 109 children entering poverty every day.
In this episode we cover:
– How the House of Lords scrutinises legislation, and Baroness Lister's role as a backbench "critical friend"
– Why politicians cherry-pick evidence — and when evidence gets overridden by ideology or public appetite
– The real story behind scrapping the two-child benefit limit, and why the benefit cap remains in place despite similar evidence of harm
– Why UK child poverty sits at 27% (down from around 30% following a measurement change) and what's really driving it — frozen benefits, insecure work, and rising housing costs
– The civil service vs. ministers vs. MPs: who academics should really be talking to for policy impact
– Why "child poverty," not "family poverty," was the deliberately chosen framing that built public support
– The power of lived experience in policymaking, including the Changing Realities project and the Timms PIP review
– Interpersonal relationships and community interventions as a positive, low-cost buffer against the harms of poverty
– Why child poverty is a mental health issue — and how squeezed welfare budgets often resurface as pressure on CAMHS and schools
Whether you're a researcher trying to translate evidence into real-world impact, a clinician working with families affected by poverty, or simply want to understand how policy really gets made in Westminster, this episode is essential listening.
Mind the Kids is brought to you by ACAMH (Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health), translating the latest child and adolescent mental health research into evidence-based conversation.
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In this conversation, Dr. Jane Gilmour and Professor Susan Young explore what it means to understand ADHD through the lens of the teenage brain. Adolescence is a period of rapid change, marked by increased risk-taking, emotional intensity, and a drive for novelty—characteristics that are also central to ADHD. She considers what happens when these developmental processes intersect, and how to distinguish between what is typical, what is neurodivergent, and what may be misunderstood.
Professor Young reflects on how ADHD presents and evolves across adolescence and into young adulthood, challenging dominant narratives, including debates around overdiagnosis and late identification. She also examines more complex and often overlooked issues in practice, such as the relationship between ADHD and trauma, risk-taking behaviours including substance use, and pathways into the criminal justice system.
The discussion moves beyond theory to consider what works in practice, including how clinicians can better engage young people in evidence-based interventions such as CBT, and what practical changes can make a meaningful difference. Overall, this conversation brings together research, clinical experience, and real-world challenges to better understand and support neurodivergent young people.
Learning Objectives
A. To understand ADHD through the lens of adolescent development
B. To recognise areas of debate and uncertainty in ADHD (e.g. diagnosis, trauma, risk)
C. To identify practical approaches to supporting and engaging young people
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How smart is a phone ban, really? With the UK's under-16s social media ban confirmed for spring 2027 and mobile phones now expected to be banned from every English school day by default, this episode of Mind the Kids tackles one of the biggest parenting and policy debates of our time: what does the evidence actually say about smartphones, social media and children's mental health?
Hosts Dr. Jane Gilmour (Honorary consultant clinical psychologist and child development programme director at UCL) and Professor Umar Toseeb (Professor of Psychology at the University of York) are joined by Professor Lisa Henderson from the University of York, author of two Child and Adolescent Mental Health Journal papers: "Digital Safeguarding Incidents in Schools With and Without Smartphone Policies" and "Innovations in Practice: A Pilot Randomised Trial on Smartphone and Social Media Abstinence."
In this episode we unpack:
– What the UK's social media ban for under-16s actually means for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat
– Why comparing the UK ban to Australia's isn't a fair like-for-like comparison
– New pilot RCT data on smartphone and social media abstinence, sleep quality and wellbeing in adolescents
– What happens to digital safeguarding incident reporting when schools introduce phone policies
– The "lost generation" risk — teens already embedded in social platforms navigating an abrupt policy shift
– Why parental phone habits predict children's smartphone use
– The "Goldilocks" amount of social media time, and why moderate use isn't the enemy
If you work in education, child psychology, safeguarding, or you're a parent trying to make sense of the smartphone ban headlines, this conversation goes well beyond the soundbites.
Mind the Kids is brought to you by ACAMH (Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health), translating the latest child and adolescent mental health research into evidence-based conversation.
🔔 Subscribe for new episodes on child development, adolescent mental health, and the research shaping child psychology practice.
Read the JCPP paper ‘Digital safeguarding incidents in schools with and without smartphone policies: a cross-sectional study in England'
https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.70079
Emma Sullivan, Rob Dallison, Pete Montgomery, Lisa Henderson
First published: 11 March 2026
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Don't miss our webinar debate 'Regulating Social Media Use in Children and Young People – Are bans justified?' This 1.5-hour online debate brings together leading experts to examine whether age-based social media bans are an appropriate policy response to concerns about children and young people’s mental health.
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