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Early life nutrition is associated with child behaviour; however, the interplay with genetic vulnerability is understudied. We hypothesised that psychiatric genetic risk interacted with early nutrition to predict behavioural problems in childhood and adolescence.
Food environments are significant drivers of obesity and diet-related diseases, making them key targets for interventions that support healthier food choices. The role of Local Government Authorities is pivotal in shaping community food environments.
There is an urgent need for scalable interventions to promote physical activity in early childhood. An early childhood education and care physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies (Play Active) has been proposed for scale-up in Australia.
The neonatal skin is central to early survival and immune development. Far from being a passive mechanical barrier, it integrates physical, chemical, and microbial defences that together protect the infant in the immediate postnatal period. In preterm infants, structural immaturity, reduced antimicrobial capacity, and altered microbial colonisation confer heightened vulnerability to infection and inflammation.
As the frequency of eating out-of-home among Australian families increases, concerns have arisen regarding the nutritional quality of Kids' Menus. This study investigated the views of food business owners and managers on Kids' Menus at sit-down venues, specifically factors influencing the choice of meals offered on Kids' Menus and potential initiatives for enhancing the nutritional quality of these menus.
Early detection of cerebral palsy (CP) risk is possible from 12 weeks corrected gestational age (CGA) using standardised assessments; however, up to half of children at risk are not referred early, missing out on early intervention. We investigated the barriers and facilitators to accessing early intervention from the perspective of parents of children who did not receive services by 6 months CGA.
Physical activity is crucial for young children's health and development. Many young children do not meet the recommended 3 hours of daily physical activity, including 60 min of energetic play. Early childhood education and care (ECEC/childcare) is a key setting to intervene to improve children's physical activity. The Play Active programme is a scalable evidence-informed ECEC-specific physical activity policy intervention with implementation support strategies to improve educators' physical activity-related practices.
The interaction of genetic and environmental contributions to immunological traits and their association with atopic disease remain unclear. Flow cytometry and in vitro cytokine responses were used to characterize immune profiles from 93 school-aged twin pairs. Using an established twin pair analytical strategy, the genetic and environmental influences on immunological traits were evaluated, along with their association with atopy. Our findings suggest strong genetic influence on several traits, particularly B cell abundance. In contrast, cytokine responses from in vitro stimulations appeared mainly shaped by environmental exposures.
Andrew Videos Whitehouse Watch and listen to Andrew PhD Deputy Director (Research); Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at The Kids
To explore parents' experiences of using continuous glucose monitoring in their young children with early-stage type 1 diabetes, being followed in the Australian Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) study.