China’s one-child policy has built a generation of sensitive, less trusting and more risk-averse adults, according to a new Australian study. The study from researchers at Monash University, the University…
New evidence is emerging that confirms what parents and children have reported for generations: boys and girls behave differently, and parenting practices vary depending on the gender of the child. Boys…
What parent can pass up the chance to boost their child’s intelligence by putting on some nice classical music? The popular idea that IQ scores can be raised by listening to Mozart is a case study in how…
The media often blame a lot of society’s problems on the break down of traditional family structures and the increase in single parent homes. When fathers no longer live at home, policy makers focus on…
Picture this common scenario: A mother is worried about the size of her 13-year-old daughter, who appears quite a bit heavier than the other students in her class. But the mother is reassured by her friend…
In early 2009, two 16-year-old Queensland girls tragically hanged themselves within weeks of each other. The girls’ lives were plagued with abuse, self-harm and illicit drug use, and their deaths raised…
Boys who grow up without a dad around are more likely to reach puberty later, but father their own children earlier, according to a new study. Researchers from the London School of Economics used data…
A seemingly harmless interview with a journalist in the lead-up to a public lecture has unleashed a torrent of abuse about my view of one aspect of raising infants. I take some responsibility as my use…
Medical circumcision of baby boys has plummeted in Australia, with only 20% of male infants now undergoing the procedure, down from 90% in the 1970s. Meanwhile, HIV infections continue to rise in the broader…
You just have to turn on the television or catch a glimpse of a magazine newsstand to see how girls are being thrust into adulthood earlier and earlier. But does biology match societal change? Are girls…
The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report – Headline Indicators for Children’s Health, Development and Wellbeing 2011 – shows Indigenous children, as well as those living in remote areas…
Only 50% to 60% of Australian children are eating enough omega-3 fatty acids, which are commonly found in fish and crucial for brain development, a University of Wollongong study has found. Researchers…