Over 1 in 4 parents of children aged 4-17 in the UK say they their child has struggled with anxiety or panic attacks in the past 12 months

In a survey of over 2,000 parents of children aged 4 – 17 conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by the National Lottery Community Fund, over a quarter (30%) said their child struggled with anxiety or panic attacks in the past 12 months, just under a quarter (23%) said their child struggled with stress and just under 1 in 5 (18%) said their child dealt with low self-esteem. Parents said their child seemed worried about a range of issues in the last year, the top 3 being judged by others (27%), body image (21%) and safety (18%).

Parents selected reduced screen time as the top benefit to their child’s mental health; however, well over a third of parents (43%) said spending more time in nature would help their child’s mental health and over a quarter (28%) felt being able to access green spaces, such as parks, would also help.

Technical note: 

• The research was conducted by Ipsos UK on behalf of The National Lottery Community Fund. Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,074 adults aged 18-65 who are the parent or legal guardian of any children aged 4-17 years old in the United Kingdom via its online survey platform between 25th April – 2nd May 2025. Respondents with more than one child were asked to think about their child whose birthday fell most recently.
• The sample obtained is representative of the population of this audience with interlocking quotas on age and gender, and quotas on region and working status of the respondents as well as quotas on age and gender of the respondents’ child.
• The data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions of this audience for age and working status within gender, and for government office region, to reflect the adult population of this audience of the United Kingdom.