Devices with screens include game consoles, laptops and televisions. Screen use refers to activities undertaken on such devices and the time spent on them. Children’s screen use has increased over the past decade. Policy-makers and parents have expressed concerns about possible effects of screen use on children/young people’s development and health. This POSTnote provides an overview of how children/young people use screens, the opportunities and risks of this use, evidence on the possible effects on health and development, and evidence on ways to support healthy screen use.
Documents to download
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Irradiation of food (157 KB, PDF)
Irradiation of food has been illegal in the UK since 1967, with exemptions to sterilise the food of patients susceptible to infection. Elsewhere, commercial application of irradiation has slowly expanded. Today, 36 countries approve the use of radiation processing for more than 40 different kinds of foods and food ingredients, under international guidelines set down by the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1983.
Since some other European countries employ food irradiation, the EEC has proposed a Draft Directive preventing Member States from prohibiting the marketing of foods irradiated according to the Codex guidelines. The DHSS/MAFF Advisory Committee on Irradiated and Novel Foods (ACINF) had already reported in 1986 that irradiation would be an 'efficacious food preservative treatment that would not lead to a significant change in the natural radioactivity of the food or prejudice its safety and wholesomeness'.
This briefing note describes the science and technology underpinning the irradiation of foods in order to assist Parliamentarians reach a view on this issue.
Documents to download
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Irradiation of food (157 KB, PDF)
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With several potential vaccines approaching the end of clinical trials, a new focus is how they will be approved for general use. How does this process work? Who will receive the first COVID-19 vaccines when they become available in the UK? What are public attitudes towards a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK?
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Media headlines have predicted an increase in mental ill health among NHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. This POSTnote gives an overview of the scale and quality of current evidence on the mental health and well-being of NHS staff before and during the pandemic. It also discusses how staff are supported and the options for introducing other effective interventions as the pandemic continues.
