Category Archives: child health

A wrap of recent news on McDonald’s, marketing and health (and some parallel universes)

May 14, 2012 – 7:28 pm

When it comes to food and health, it seems that we are living in parallel universes. In one universe, there is a new report from The Institute of Medicine in the US, Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation, urging governments and decision makers (including those in the private sector) “to [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Food, health and medical research, obesity, public health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Efforts to minimise harm from media reporting of Breivik trial may have wider application

April 23, 2012 – 2:14 pm

The trial in Norway of Anders Behring Breivik for the murder of 77 people is generating some useful reflection about the role of media at times like this, and what can be done to minimise the suffering of those exposed to related coverage. If you’ve been following the tweets of Trygve Sorvaag (see a selection [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Media-related issues, mental health, The Conversation, trauma | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Lack of access to dental care is putting children in hospital and entrenching disadvantage

April 19, 2012 – 8:51 pm

Should you think this recent post was a little harsh, in condemning the obfuscation and lack of clarity in many health communications, try having a read of this recent report produced by the Department of Health and Ageing and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Titled Dental health of Indigenous children in the Northern [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Health inequalities, health workforce, Indigenous health, rural and remote health, social determinants of health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

An important policy gap: mental health in early childhood

April 16, 2012 – 10:57 am

Mental health in early childhood (from birth to primary school age) deserves far more attention, according to a policy brief recently released by the Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. A summary follows below: Australia has seen significantly increased awareness of mental illness and a major increase in funding [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in mental health, social determinants of health | Comments (1)

Join a Twitter chat about involving children and parents in research and service development

April 11, 2012 – 11:41 am

Eva Alisic is a trauma psychologist, research fellow at Monash Injury Research Institute, blogger and Tweeter.  If you’ve ideas for how children and parents could be empowered to contribute to the design of mental health research and care, you might like to join her in a Twitter chat tomorrow afternoon. *** An invitation to contribute to [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health and medical research, mental health, social media and healthcare, trauma, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

The latest wrap of health & medical reading from The Conversation

March 6, 2012 – 11:52 am

Thanks to Fron Jackson-Webb for providing this latest wrap of reading from The Conversation. It includes articles about bioethics, pharmaceutical industry payments to doctors, the history of forced adoption, gene patenting, advances in tobacco control, debates in suicide prevention, and the financing of dental care. *** There’s no good argument for infanticide By Andrew McGee, [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in dental care, health ethics, pharmaceutical industry, tobacco control | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Medicare Locals should be central to dental reform discussions

February 28, 2012 – 12:45 pm

Stage one of dental health reform should focus on improving access for children and lower income adults, according to recommendations from the National Advisory Council on Dental Health. The Council’s report says improving children’s oral health will reduce the overall burden of disease and improve long‐term oral health across the population, while low income adults [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in dental care, health reform, Medicare Locals, primary health care, public health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Making equity part of the discussion on mental health (including new publications in Indigenous mental health)

February 6, 2012 – 7:12 pm

Note: apologies to readers but system glitches are making it difficult to insert links at the moment. The Australian Psychological Society recently claimed (www.psychology.org.au/Content.aspx?ID=4137) that the Better Access program had been “the most successful mental health initiative of the past 30 years”. This followed the Federal Government’s announcement that it would put in place transition arrangements [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health financing and costs, Health inequalities, health reform, Indigenous health, Journal articles, mental health, rural and remote health, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

Fat Free TV: helping families reduce junk food viewing

February 1, 2012 – 12:39 pm

The British Heart Foundation recently released a report documenting how food companies are marketing unhealthy foods to children online, using tactics such as free games, gifts and downloads, fun characters and social networking sites. The report is called: The 21st century gingerbread house: How companies are marketing junk food to children online. It’s good to [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health & medical marketing, Media-related issues, obesity, public health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Junk food promotions by Foxtel: it’s just not cricket

January 31, 2012 – 11:11 am

Public health advocate Professor Mike Daube writes: The finals this weekend of the KFC T20 Big Bash could have been better (especially if the Perth Scorchers had won), but the cricket was lively and would have made exciting viewing for many children as they watched all the KFC promos, as well as seeing their sporting [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Food, Media-related issues, public health, Uncategorized | Comments (0)