Time to Talk Public Health is a nationally representative panel of Welsh residents established by Public Health Wales to enable regular public engagement to inform public health policy and practice.
Welsh residents were asked their views on a range of public health topics. The survey had a focus on topics relating to children’s health and well-being, including questions of specific relevance to parents. To increase participation of parents in the survey, a parent boost sample was recruited to take part in the survey in addition to the routine general population sample.
The February survey focused on the following six topics: parenting information needs, perceptions of breastfeeding, role of education settings in child health, child behaviour strategies, mental well-being, and technology use with family and friends.
The key findings from the general population sample have been highlighted on the summary page:
Parenting information needs
The top three (of ten) types of child-related information that people thought it was ‘very important’ for parents to receive from the NHS were:
Spotting signs of serious illnesses in children (93%)
How to perform first aid (87%)
Supporting children’s speech, language and communication skills (83%)
Perceptions of breastfeeding
58% of people said they think breastfeeding is ‘very important’ for babies’ health and development, with 31% thinking it is somewhat important.
Role of education settings in child health
Of nine child health and well-being areas, those that most people said they ‘strongly support’ education having a role in were:
Supporting online safety (77%)
Preventing smoking and vaping (76%)
Accessing support for mental health difficulties (74%)
Preventing alcohol and drug misuse (74%)
Child behaviour strategies
The top three (of ten) child behaviour management strategies that people rated as ‘very effective’ were:
Praising good behaviour (74%)
Rewarding good behaviour (65%)
Reasoning with a child (48%)
Only 5% considered physical punishment to be ‘very effective’.
91% of people said they knew that all physical punishment of children is illegal in Wales.
Mental well-being
37% of people said they take ‘a lot’ of action to help protect and improve their mental well-being; 50% take ‘a little’ action and 12% take no action.
Technology use with family and friends
41% of people said their partner’s technology use had a negative impact on their relationship with them at least some of the time, while only 34% had this view when asked about the impact of their technology use on their relationship with their partner.
Read the full report: Time to Talk Public Health: February 2024 Panel Survey Findings
The report presents the findings from 1,261 residents in Wales from the general population (age 16+ years), as well as findings from parents of children under the age of 18 years, which includes 263 parents from the general population sample and 454 parents from a parent boost sample (total sample 717 parents). To learn more about Time to Talk Public Health, visit the project webpage..
