EXPERTS are calling on politicians to make the welfare of Scotland's children a priority saying their physical and mental health is "amongst the poorest in Western Europe".

A dozen leaders in the field, including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), have signed a letter which demands the problem is given attention across all Scottish Government departments.

Road accidents, suicides and deaths among infants born into poverty are among their top concerns, along with escalating levels of obesity.

They highlight that 400 children and young people in Scotland die every year - a death rate said to be double that of Sweden.

They argue: "With the right policy interventions in pregnancy, childhood and adolescence, a significant proportion of deaths may be preventable and children and young people’s health could be greatly improved."

Tayside paediatrician Dr Donald Macgregor, a spokesman for the RCPCH, said: "We are not a much poorer country than Sweden really and countries like Italy and Spain are way ahead of us in child health. I think the way they live their lives (with close family support networks) has some benefits and ours do not."

He acknowledged fantastic progress had been made tackling diseases which once killed children including measles and meningitis.

However, he said, this exposed other problems. These include infant deaths, particularly among children whose mothers smoke or drink alcohol during pregnancy, road accidents and mental health issues.

He said in the summer hospitals in his area would see a child seriously injured by a car every week.

"They will have been out playing late at night," he said. "The last thing I want to do is stop children wanting to play...The built up areas need to have better traffic control."

He also spoke of the need to improve quick access to mental health services for older children, saying doctors saw cases where children wait so long "events have over taken themselves and the child has killed themselves or the mother is in meltdown and another child in the family is affected."

Better support to ensure children get a better start in life from the moment of conception is also fundamental, argue the signatories of the letter.

Gillian Smith, director of the Royal College of Midwives Scotland, said putting her name to the call for action across the political parties was a "no brainer".

She said there was a "cycle of despair" as those born into deprivation suffered health issues. She said: "You are not going to tell me any parent does not want to bring its child into the best environment possible. But some people come from a background of deprivation where they have known nothing but poverty. Sometimes it is like a quagmire that people feel they cannot get out of."

Dr Macgregor agreed: "All of my colleagues would have the same pattern where the most deprived are the ones that get hit the hardest over and over and over again."

He stressed the importance of health visitors and other family support workers even when it comes to basics such as ensuring young children attend nursery and medical appointments.

The letter, which is published in The Herald, says: "With the 2016 election a little over six months away, we are calling on all politicians, regardless of political party, to make children and young people’s health a priority and adopt policies that will reduce health inequalities. A child health strategy which cuts across all government departments is key to making this a reality."

It is signed by heads of charities such as Action for Sick Children Scotland and professional bodies such as the UK Faculty of Public Health.

The RCPCH has published a vision for Scotland's next government which calls on them to implement a minimum price for alcohol, develop education programmes for parents on the dangers of alcohol use in pregnancy and introduce 20mph speed limits in more built up areas.