The Observer recently ran an interview with US expert Bruce D Perry who claimed that children’s hyperactivity “is not a real disease”. Perry, senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy in Houston, Texas…
Humanity is standing on the cusp of a huge technological leap. Commercial space flight could place something that has been the preserve of a chosen few (around 500 people) who’ve completed years of gruelling…
Young children living in remote Indigenous communities have long been known to suffer from iron deficiency and anaemia at many times the rates found among other Australian children. Now a new report shows…
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is today launching a call for law reform regarding the use of physical punishment to discipline children. Noting the harms of smacking children, it’s…
High stress among Indigenous children in urban areas is linked to poorer physical health and more parental concern about behavioural issues, a new study has found. Of 344 participating children, 51% had…
A virus that can cause paralysis in children has been circulating in New South Wales during autumn and has recently spread to Victoria. Around 30 young children, mainly from Sydney’s northern and southeastern…
Lead exposure continues to be an important public health issue for Australian children, with as many as 100,000 children under five years of age estimated to have blood lead levels high enough to cause…
MATTERS OF THE MIND – a series which examines the clinician’s bible for diagnosing mental disorders, the DSM, and the controversy surrounding the forthcoming fifth edition. As a child and adolescent psychiatrist…
More than half of young Australians are consuming too much sugar, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Wollongong and University of Sydney. The research, which was presented at…
Climate change has been widely recognised by leading public health organisations and prestigious peer reviewed journals as the the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. A recently released…
A growing body of evidence suggests being obese as a child or adolescent may have a larger effect on future health than previously thought. In a new meta-analysis of 63 studies including nearly 50,000…
Public health experts, educators and the media constantly remind us that children should put down the video games and get active. But how much activity is really necessary to maintain health? And how much…
Branding that’s targeted at children can make healthy food a more attractive option than unhealthy food, according to a new US study. Researchers from Cornell University found that a sticker of the popular…
Director, Center for Community Child Health Royal Children's Hospital; Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne; Theme Director Population Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute