The Children's Society has announced the launch of a new national inquiry into the state of childhood in Britain as professionals and academics warn of more depression among children.

|QUOTE|The announcement is a prompt response to the joint letter published in The Telegraph in which leading professionals and academics in child-related fields, including director of Kidscape, Michele Elliot, and popular children's author Anne Fine, warned that modern life is leading to more depression among children.

In the statement, the professionals and academics said they were "deeply concerned" at the "escalating" childhood depression and behavioural and developmental conditions among children in Britain.

They urged a move away from today's junk-food and screen-based entertainment lifestyle, stressing that children need "real food", "real play" and "first-hand experience of the world they live in," as well as "regular interaction with the real-life significant adults in their lives".

The letter also reflected the widespread public sentiment that children are over-burdened by school tests and exposed to culture that is leading them to grow up too fast.

"In a fast-moving hyper-competitive culture, today's children are expected to cope with an ever-earlier start to formal schoolwork and an overly academic test-driven primary curriculum.

"They are pushed by market forces to act and dress like mini-adults and exposed via the electronic media to material which would have been considered unsuitable for children even in the very recent past."

The signatories blamed the rise in substance abuse, violence and self-harm amongst Britain's young people on the fact that the mental health of children in the UK had been "unnecessarily compromised".

In response to the calls in the statement for parents and policy-makers to start a public debate on the issue of childhood in the UK, The Children's Society has launched The Good Childhood Inquiry - the UK's first independent national inquiry into childhood.

"The Children's Society believes that there is a climate of fear and confusion surrounding childhood. The childhood experienced by today's children is significantly different from that of previous generations," said Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive for The Children's Society.

"Despite our wealth as a nation, the well-being of children in the UK is amongst the lowest in Europe. Too many children in the UK are still experiencing poor childhoods."

The letter in The Telegraph was signed by around one hundred leading figures in child-related work including Anne Fine, author and former Children's Laureate; John C. Beyer, director of Mediawatch UK; Michele Elliot, director of Kidscape; Jacqueline Wilson, author and Children's Laureate.