Researcher Sharon Bessell asked children how they experienced poverty. Here are 6 changes needed now An eight-year-old boy is often hungry, but knows if he tells his mum, she will eat less herself and go hungry. He hates the thought, so he stays quiet. An 11-year-old girl...
Overweight and obesity is the second-largest contributor to Australia’s disease burden and health costs, including significantly driving Australia’s high-cost diseases (for example, musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers). It’s estimated to cost the Australian economy $11.8 billion, and if obesity rates continue to increase, will cost Australia...
How you can get your kid to eat breakfast before school and yes, it’s OK to have dinner leftovers or a sandwich, writes researcher Evangeline Mantzioris The cereal bowl is sitting there getting mushy and gross. You ask your child to eat for the 20th...
School playgrounds are getting squeezed, write researchers Brendon Hyndman, Jessica Amy Sears and Vaughan Cruickshank. Here are 8 ways to keep students active in small spaces. As enrolments climb and urban spaces become more crowded, some Australian schools have been left with less play space per...
Researchers have discovered that some immunotherapy treatments used to treat cancer can cause fertility damage. It means these treatments could affect the future fertility and hormonal health of female cancer survivors, prompting experts to call for more research and preventative measures, such as freezing eggs. Traditional cancer...
Sexual sparks fly when partners do their share of chores – including calling the plumber, write researchers Simone Buzwell and Eva Johansen When a comic about “mental load” went viral in 2017, it sparked conversations about the invisible workload women carry. Even when women are in...
Pregnant women continue to be sacked, demoted and discriminated against in the workplace despite laws designed to protect them, Monash University research shows. A pilot study by the Monash Business School analysed data from calls to the JobWatch helpline and found pregnant women faced a wide range of...
New research by Mark Patrick Taylor, Neda Sharifi Soltani and Scott P. Wilson shows who’s most at risk. The evidence is clear: microplastics have contaminated every corner of the globe. We can’t escape exposure to these tiny bits of plastic (less than 5mm across) in the...
A new National Poll conducted by the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne reported that it is common for Australian children to be distressed after being exposed to news coverage, yet many parents are not confident discussing distressing news with their children. With today’s 24-hour news cycle, children...
Xinyu (Andy) Zhao and Sarah Healy ask—are you a ‘contract maker’ or an ‘access denier’ with your child? Screen time was a battle for parents before COVID and it continues to be a battle, long after lockdowns have ended. The Royal Children’s Hospital March 2021 child health poll...
