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13:30 Childhood obesity is on the rise again, the latest statistics from the national child measurement programme (NCMP) has shown.
The Guardian reports that 9.3% of four- and five-year-olds in primary reception class in England were classed as obese in 2015/16, up from 9.1% the previous year.
And nearly one in five (19.8%) of 10- and 11-year-olds were obese, up from 19.1% in 2014/15.
Boy are more likely to be dangerously overweight than girls, and more than double the amount of kids are obese in the most economically deprived areas compared to the most affluent areas.
The Government published its long-awaited childhood obesity strategy in August but GPs slammed the ‘weak’ and ‘watered down’ plan.
11:48 The winter vomiting bug is here, reports the BBC.
Restaurant chain Wahaca has closed down five London branches hundreds of staff and customers took ill with suspected norovirus.
A spokesperson for the popular Mexican street food chain, which closed down the branches voluntarily, said they were ‘incredibly sorry that people have been unwell’.
09:30 The Commons health committee said A&E departments will need almost 3,000 more doctors to cope with unprecedented pressures this winter.
The report says hospitals have too few empty beds to cope with surges in demand, the Telegraph reports.
The MPs said that A&E departments need at least 8,000 doctors – 50% more than the 5,300 currently employed – to keep pace with the rise in emergency admissions in the last five years.
This would include 1,000 consultants, it added.
You can read the Pulse story on the report here.
