HEALTH NOTES: New mothers turning to alcohol as one in five UK mums drink more after having children

One in five mothers say they’ve drunk more alcohol since having children.

Supplement firm Myrkl polled 600 mothers in the UK and found that the struggles of parenting can drive them to drink.

One in three also said they got drunk the first time they went out after having a baby to ‘let their hair down’.

Previous research has linked parental alcohol consumption to anxiety in children.

A third of parents have been drunk in front of their children, according to a 2017 study by the Institute of Alcohol Studies.

Peanut allergies licked by babies

Giving babies peanut butter could reduce peanut allergies by nearly 80 per cent, according to research.

Current advice is to let children eat peanuts from the age of one, as regularly consuming them can stop the immune system developing a potentially fatal sensitivity or allergy.

Now a team from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and King’s College London have analysed allergies in thousands of babies and found that peanut products – such as peanut butter – can be introduced earlier than previously thought.

They found that at four to six months is most effective. Whole or broken peanuts were not recommended due to risk of choking.

Following this rule could reduce peanut allergies in the UK by 77 per cent, compared with 33 per cent if parents wait until the child is one.

Giving babies peanut butter could reduce peanut allergies by nearly 80 per cent, according to research (stock photo)

People who fixate on their worries are more likely to develop suicidal thoughts, a University of Birmingham study suggests.

Researchers followed 67 adolescents who had received treatment for depression and asked them to complete questionnaires to determine their thought patterns. They found that those who engaged in regular rumination – thinking about the same concern over and over again – were more likely to develop suicidal thoughts than others, including those going through difficult life events such as bereavement.

Dr Maria Dauvermann, lead researcher from the University of Birmingham, said: ‘This could lead to new treatments for young people with depressive disorders.’

Local health teams have been sending mobile screening units to check for liver cancer at diabetes and sexual health clinics as well as food banks.

The trucks are staffed by nurses and can offer on-the-spot scans to identify those most at risk of hepatocellular carcinoma – the most common form of the disease, making up 85 per cent of all liver cancers.

Checks will be offered to high-risk adults including those who drink a lot of alcohol, who have a current diagnosis or history of viral hepatitis, or who have non-alcoholic liver disease.