A new report says that the mental health and educational difficulties suffered by the children of personnel serving in the armed forces are often unnoticed and should be treated through dedicated Government spending.

Research carried out by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children’s Fund found that, though only 16% of 1,302 people surveyed thought that children with parents erving in the armed forces are “significantly affected by their parent being deployed to a warzone”, the problems suffered by these children are much more serious than most people think.

The report, entitled “The Overlooked Casualties of Conflict”, said that amongst the challenges faced by services children were: worrying when a parent is away in a war zone; readjusting to their return; regularly moving school; and dealing with a parent’s death.

The report added that worries about a parent being away in a war zone could show itself in changes in the child’s behaviour, such as being more emotional, having sleeping problems, having tantrums or being more argumentative.

Having to move school frequently also severely disrupts the education of service children, according to the report, which includes research carried out among service personnel – 43% of Naval families have experienced problems finding a place for their children at their school of choice, while nearly 64% of Naval families have experienced problems with the differences in the quality of their child’s education when changing schools.

18% of Naval families said their school was “not very helpful” in understanding Naval family life and the strains experienced by service children.

One in three members of the general public think that service children should be assisted with extra funding for essentials such as school uniform as, according to the report, service children can move schools up to 11 times.

Monique Bateman, director of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Children’s Fund, said:

“We are sitting on a ticking timebomb of problems for children whose parents have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan – children of serving personnel are so much more than just picture opportunities snapped up when their loved ones return from overseas and it is now time for local and national government to sit up and take notice of the pending problems and support the children of the future.”