Category: Child health
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It’s Anti-Poverty Week: Here are 5 ways Australia can halve child poverty by 2030
Dr Matthew ‘Tepi’ Mclaughlin (Telethon Kids Institute, the University of Western Australia); Professor Karen Thorpe, Professor Cameron Parsell, Professor Janeen Baxter, Associate Professor Wojtek Tomaszewski (The University of Queensland); Associate Professor Marian Vidal-Fernandez (University of Sydney); Professor Guyonne Kalb, Dr Barbara Broadway (University of Melbourne). Shockingly, in 2022, more…
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Reflections on the Population Health Congress 2022
Alanna Sincovich and Elise Rivera – PHAA Child and Youth Health Special Interest Group (SIG) In the third and final edition of the 2022 Child and Youth Health SIG Series, we hear from two PhD candidates, Alanna Sincovich and Elise Rivera, who attended the Population Health Congress held on the…
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Cars have taken over our neighbourhoods. Kid-friendly superblocks are a way for residents to reclaim their streets
Matthew Mclaughlin, The University of Western Australia; Hayley Christian, The University of Western Australia; Jasper Schipperijn, University of Southern Denmark, and Trevor Shilton, Curtin University You might remember your time as a child playing outdoors with friends and walking to school. These activities had tremendous benefits for our health and…
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‘Who are we?’ Highlights from the Opening Plenary of Population Health Congress 2022
Melanie Parker, PHAA Renowned researchers, public health chiefs, population health students and professionals, and prominent politicians from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand attended last week’s Population Health Congress 2022. Hosted in hybrid format by the Public Health Association of Australia, Australian Health Promotion Association, Australasian Epidemiological Association, and Australasian…
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Rather than focusing on the negative, we need a strength-based way to approach First Nations childrens’ health
Jennifer Browne, Deakin University; Jill Gallagher, Indigenous Knowledge; Joleen Ryan, Deakin University; Mark Lock (Ngiyampaa), Deakin University, and Troy Walker, Deakin University First Nations children represent the future of the world’s oldest continuing culture. Of the 66,000 Victorians who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the 2021 Census,…
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Improving Access to Oral Healthcare for Children in Australia
Danielle Gavanescu, Master of Public Health student and former PHAA intern Making the news in Australia, particularly in 2022, have been the significant ongoing issues with accessing affordable oral healthcare across the country. Consumers and health professionals have shared their stories, and politicians have called for changes to the Medicare…
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How dark is ‘dark advertising’? We audited Facebook, Google and other platforms to find out
Nicholas Carah, The University of Queensland; Aimee Brownbill, The University of Queensland; Amy Shields Dobson, Curtin University; Brady Robards, Monash University; Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology; Kiah Hawker, The University of Queensland; Lauren Hayden, The University of Queensland, and Xue Ying Tan, Queensland University of Technology Once upon a…
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Independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps’ bid to address Australia’s childhood obesity levels
Danielle Gavanescu, PHAA Intern and Master of Public Health student Independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps has announced the development of a Private Member’s Bill that will restrict junk food marketing to children in a bid to curb Australia’s growing obesity epidemic. Dr Sophie Scamps calls for ban on junk food…
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Two reflections on the 2022 Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Conference (CDIC)
Melody Taba and Rebecca Burrell – PHAA Child and Youth Health Special Interest Group (SIG) In the second edition of the Child and Youth Health SIG Series, PhD students, Melody Taba and Rebecca Burrell, reflect on attending the Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Conference (CDIC) in Sydney in June. Melody and…
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Dr Matthew ‘Tepi’ Mclaughlin talks physical activity and Prevention 2022
Dr. Matthew ‘Tepi’ Mclaughlin and Mary Brushe In 2022 the PHAA Child and Youth Health Special Interest Group awarded several scholarships for students and early career researchers to attend a PHAA conference of their choosing. The aim of this newly established scholarship was to provide opportunities to public health professionals…
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Roe vs. Wade and the recent overturn of the 50-year-old ruling by the US Supreme Court
Professor Jaya Dantas and Dr Claire Rogers Co- Convenors, PHAA International Health Special Interest Group On the 24 June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States stripped women, and girls of existing legal protections necessary to determine the course of their lives. Legal protections for abortion access and…
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Reproductive Freedom Needs Continual Defence
Dr Abela Mahimbo and Dr Amie Steel PHAA’s Women’s Health Special Interest Group convenors The Australian public health community is outraged at the decisions of US state legislatures to deny women’s reproductive control over their lives. On Friday the US Supreme Court, by a 5-4 majority of conservative judges,…
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As Netball Australia eyes betting sponsorship, women and girls are at increased risk of gambling harm
Samantha Thomas, Deakin University; Hannah Pitt, Deakin University, and Simone McCarthy, Deakin University Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan said last week she would consider accepting gambling sponsorship to help with Netball Australia’s debts. Gambling sponsorships were “lucrative” for sports, she reasoned, adding netball had to “put itself a little bit…
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First Nations mothers are more likely to die during childbirth. More First Nations midwives could close this gap
Pamela McCalman, La Trobe University; Catherine Chamberlain, The University of Melbourne, and Machellee Kosiak, Australian Catholic University While Australia is one of the safest places in the world to give birth, First Nations women are three times more likely to die in childbirth than other Australian women (17.5 vs 5.5…
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55 years since the 1967 Referendum, what’s changed?
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser Today is the 55th anniversary since Australians voted in the 1967 Referendum on ‘Aboriginal people’. Widely regarded as a turning point in the nation’s relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the 1967 vote changed our national Constitution. It meant that…
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The potential global effects if Roe v. Wade is overturned
Professor Jaya Dantas, Dr Claire Rogers, Dr Abela Mahimbo, and Professor Angela Taft Recently, United States (US) political news outlet Politico published a leaked draft of a Supreme Court majority decision that would explicitly overturn Roe v. Wade and with it, 50 years of the Supreme Court’s legal precedent…
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Advocating for protection against unethical marketing of unhealthy products
PHAA Intern Allyson Todd, University of Sydney The unethical marketing of unhealthy products is an increasing concern within the digital age, from both a public health lens, and a human and child rights perspective. The Australian Government’s National Preventative Health Strategy 2021-2030 recognised the digital and commercial influence of promoting…
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Universal access to oral healthcare needs national leadership
Tan Nguyen and Associate Professor Amit Arora, Co-convenors, PHAA Oral Health Special Interest Group and Linda Doherty, Croakey Introduction by Croakey: There’s a strong economic argument for providing free – or at least affordable – dental healthcare as poor dental health is linked to chronic conditions such as stroke, heart and…
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Sick governance risks all our health
Malcolm Baalman – PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Adviser We saw a disappointing Budget this week, with virtually no new investment in population-level prevention of diseases. What governments decide to do – or not do – makes a huge difference to the population’s health. Governments make laws about environmental health,…
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Q&A: Dr Fiona Robards on her role as Child and Youth Health SIG Co-Convenor
PHAA As part of a Q&A blog series on new 2022 PHAA SIG convenors, we spoke to Dr Fiona Robards, an active PHAA member who now leads the PHAA Child & Youth Health Special Interest Group with fellow Co-Convenor Cristyn Davies. Name, title/position, and summary of Public Health career trajectory…
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‘We need you’: Prof Helen Marshall AM joins call for more public health workers
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Introduction Today, we continue our profile series, celebrating public health experts who’ve been recognised in the latest Australia Day Honours. Adelaide-based Professor Helen Marshall AM enjoyed a double celebration in January. Firstly, being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, and secondly, being named the…
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Uniquely precarious: Temporary visa holders experiencing domestic violence
Chithra Ravi Mandalam – PHAA Intern and Deakin University student This month, the Australian Government accepted submissions on the draft National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32. The last five years have seen a drastic shift in the tone of discussion around violence faced by women and…
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The $55 billion formula industry – violating international commitments
Dr Mary-Anne Land – PHAA Forty years ago, the World Health Assembly adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code) to regulate the marketing of breast-milk substitutes, and protect mothers from aggressive marketing practices. Yet forty years on, formula marketing still represents one of the most underappreciated…
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Federal Election Call for Action: #ThreeTransportPriorities
Matthew ‘Tepi’ Mclaughlin, Stephen Hodge, Peter Bourke, Peter McCue, on behalf of the Australasian Society for Physical Activity (ASPA) and We Ride Australia. The 2022 Federal Election document was presented to the Co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Cycling, a group that unites MPs and Senators with an interest in…
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Yes, words can harm young trans people. Here’s what we can do to help
Cristyn Davies, University of Sydney; Alessandra Chinsen, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Ken Pang, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Kerry H. Robinson, Western Sydney University, and Rachel Skinner, University of Sydney All children and adolescents have the right to live free from discrimination. However, the public debate last week around the proposed…
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Powerful pair recognised for decades of persistence at tobacco control
Paris Lord – PHAA Editor’s note: this Intouch post is longer than usual, but is worth your time, particularly if you can remember how ubiquitous smoking and its advertising was in Australia, and the efforts it took to counter that. It’s New Year’s Day 1992. Ascot race course, Perth.…
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When is the right time for children to learn to swim?
Amy Peden, UNSW Each year in Australia, an average of 23 children under five die from unintentional drowning, usually due to factors such as a lack of adult supervision, unrestricted access to water and not having the skills to stay safe in water. Teaching children to swim is crucial to…
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Every Moment Matters: The campaign to raise awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol while pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or breastfeeding and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
Sarah Ward – Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (FARE) It’s the largest national campaign about alcohol, pregnancy, and breastfeeding that Australia has seen. Every Moment Matters emphasises the message that ‘the moment you start trying, is the moment to stop drinking alcohol’. I have been lucky enough to…
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Addressing Inequalities in Access to Quality Maternal and Child Health Services in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors – Firew Bobo (PhD Candidate, University of Technology Sydney, UTS); Professor Andrew Hayen, (UTS); Professor Angela Dawson; (UTS) How long people live dramatically varies depending on socioeconomic status, education levels, place of birth, and country of residence. Higher levels of illness and premature mortality are more common among the…
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PHAA Board member, Dr Kim Jose, reflects on a career of collaboration
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Ask the President of the PHAA’s Tasmanian branch and national board member, Dr Kim Jose, what matters most to her, and what she’s most proud of as a public health professional, and one word keeps popping up – ‘collaboration’. In fact, amid her life’s work, first…