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Child health overview

Children and young people's health is widely acknowledged as being a key driver to positive life course trajectories. While positive health is an important outcome in and of itself, it also increases children and young peoples' chances of achieving and maintaining positive health throughout their life. Promoting healthly lifestyles and preventing people from becoming ill is key to reducing existing and future burden of disease on the NHS and ensuring that everyone can live long and healthy lives. Good prevention starts before birth, by maximising health of the mother and baby before, during, and after pregnancy to improve child health outcomes. 

Children and young people in Glasgow are healthier than in the past, and many improvements continue. However, not all children and young people are benefiting from these improvements, and inequalities in health between the most and least deprived areas in Glasgow are evident today. Data consistently shows that poverty and inequality impact a child's whole life course, affecting their education, housing, and social environment and in turn impacting their health outcomes.

Summary statistics 

2026 update Children's Health infographic

Click here to download the Children's Health infographic

The following summary provides some of the key health statistics for children and young people in Glasgow.

  • In terms of perinatal health, in 2022, 9% of pregnant women in Glasgow reported they were current smokers (compared to 12% across Scotland) and 9% reported they were former smokers (13% across Scotland), and a higher proportion of women in Glasgow had never smoked compared to the national average (82% in Glasgow, 74% in Scotland).
  • Drug use in pregnancy has shown an overall, albeit small, decline from 1.2% to 0.9% between 2010 and 2022. While there has been a considerable increase in the proportion of maternities where consumption of alcohol was recorded (from 3% to 35%) this could be attributed to a change in how the question is now phrased at the booking appointment. 
  • In 2024, over two thirds of babies in Glasgow were breastfed at the time of the Health Visitor's first visit, but the proportion of babies exclusively breastfed had halved by the 6-8 week review, and halved again by the 13-15 month review. Combined feeding also showed a downward trend, albeit with slightly higher levels than exclusive breastfeeding.
  • In 2024, 90.5% of children in Glasgow aged 24 months had received the first MMR dose. Vaccine coverage only reached the 95% target among three-to five-year-olds. 
  • In Glasgow, uptake of the first dose of the HPV vaccine in 2023/24 was higher among older pupils, with 65.1% of S1 (first year) pupils compared to 86.9% of S4 (fourth year) pupils. However vaccine uptake was influenced by gender and deprivation: female pupils were more likely to receive the HPV vaccine compared to male pupils, and (across NHS GGC) pupils in SIMD 5 were more likley to receive the HPV vaccine compared to pupils in SIMD 1. 
  • In 2022, the National Dental Inspection Programme of dental health showed over two thirds of Primary 1 children in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had no obvious decay experience. This was marginally lower than the national average. In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 86% of Primary 1 children in SIMD 5 (the least deprived quintile) had no obvious dental decay, compared to 57% of Primary children in SIMD 1 (the most deprived quintile). 
  • In relation to physical activity, almost half (49%) of children were using active travel to primary and secondary school, with walking being the most common mode of active travel. Meanwhile, one third of pupils from P5 to S6 reported they engaged in physical activity every day, and sedentary behaviour was higher during the weekend compared to weekdays. 
  • In relation to substance use: the majority of secondary pupils surveyed reported they had never smoked (80%) and never vaped (69%). A higher proportion of pupils had tried vaping (28%) compared to smoking (20%), and pupils who used vapes, would use them more often than those who smoked cigarettes. More than two-thirds (71%) of pupils in S2 and S4 surveyed reported that they ‘never drink alcohol now’. Of those who drink, the most common response was that they drink a few times a year (17%), followed by about once a month (4%). Less than one in 10 pupils had taken illegal drugs, and the most common drugs taken were cannabis, cocaine or ecstacy. One fifth of pupils reportedly took drugs at least once a week or more. 
  • In terms of sexual health, in 2021-22, 14% of pupils in S4-S6 reported that they were sexually active. More than half had used contraception to prevent pregnancy, and one third didnt use anything. Less than half of pupils reported they wanted it to happen when it did, and 13% would rather they had waited. Over half of students surveyed were aged 15+ years the first time they had sex, and 83% found it easy to say 'no' to sexual experiences they didn't want. 
  • In Glasgow, there has been a continous downward trend in the rate of pregnancies among young people since 2011-13. The biggest reduction is among under-16-year olds where the rate has halved from 8 to 4 per 1,000 females. Similar patterning is seen across other Scottish cities and reflects national rates. Pregnancies among young people has reduced across all SIMD quintiles in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde between 2011 and 2022, but there continues to be higher rates of pregnancies among SIMD 1 compared to SIMD 5. 
  • Across Scotland the outcome of pregnancies among young people has changed in the last three decades. In 2022, pregnancies among young people in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were more likely to result in a termination  (rather than a delivery) compared to 2011. However, the actual number of terminations of pregnancy among young people in 2022 is lower because there are fewer pregnancies within this cohort. There are differences in pregnancy outcomes associated with deprivation: young people in SIMD 1 are more likely to deliver their pregnancy and young people from SIMD 5 are more likely to terminate their pregnancy. 
  • In Glasgow, one quarter of primary and secondary school pupils (P5-S6) reported their mental health as 'excellent' and less than half reported it as 'good'. A small proportion of pupils (3%) reported their mental health as 'poor'. At the same time, mental wellbeing measures highlighted probable depression in one third of pupils. 
  • Data on probable suicides among young people is not available at a health board level. National statistics showed in 2023, one quarter of all deaths among 5-24 year olds was classed as probable suicide. In comparison, 1% of all deaths among people aged 25+ years was classed as probable suicide. There was a higher proportion of deaths attributed to suicide among older age groups (31% among 20-24 year olds versus 9% among 10-14 year olds). 
  • The Scottish Government target is that 90% of people should receive mental health treatment within 18 weeks of referral to psychological therapies. In the period October 2023 to September 2024, 98.6% of children and young people were seen within this 18 week target period in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This shows an improvement from 92.4% in the same quarter in the previous year, and is higher than the national average (77.2%). 

The health indicators on these web pages don’t show every aspect of child health – they have been chosen partly because they are readily available, and partly because they show time trends and inequalities, potential for intervention, and lifelong importance.

In the full indicators on the following pages you will find information on the perinatal environment, immunisations, dental health, physical activity, sleep, substance use, sexual health, and mental health. You will see how figures for Glasgow have changed over time, and how they compare with other Scottish cities and neighbouring Local Authorities. 

In the Resources section, important aims and policies set by Glasgow City Council, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Scottish Government in relation to child health are summarised, with links to policy documents. Sources of more extensive information (such as evidence of the impact of poverty on child health, and sites featuring further child health data) are also highlighted there.  Notes on the data used in this section are summarised. Trends and patterns in the health of Glasgow’s overall population (i.e. adults included) are described within the main set of Glasgow indicators.

The data on the Understanding Glasgow website comes from a variety of administrative sources and surveys, and the frequency of updates to these sources varies. The graphs and text on each page should indicate the period to which an indicator refers. In some cases, where more recently published data is not available, we still use older published sources, such as the 2011 Census. 

This page was last updated in September 2026.