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Psychological distress in the early postpartum period can have long-lasting deleterious effects on a mother's well-being and negatively affect her infant's development. Intervention approaches based in contemplative practices such as mindfulness and loving-kindness and compassion are intended to alleviate distress and cultivate well-being and can be delivered effectively as digital mental health interventions.
Steve Desiree Zubrick Silva FASSA, FAAMHS, MSc AM PhD MBBS, FRACP, MPH, PhD Honorary Emeritus Research Fellow Co-Director, ORIGINS 08 6319 1409
Desiree Silva MBBS, FRACP, MPH, PhD Co-Director, ORIGINS desiree.silva@thekids.org.au Co-Head, The ORIGINS Project Professor Desiree Silva is
Desiree Peter Silva Richmond MBBS, FRACP, MPH, PhD MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP Co-Director, ORIGINS Head, Vaccine Trials Group desiree.silva@thekids.org.au
Young children are increasingly exposed to evolving screen technology. International guidelines recommend no screen use for children under the age of 2 years, due to the potential for detrimental effects on behaviour and development. However, evidence for these guidelines is limited by inadequate consideration of device-specific effects (TV and mobile phone/tablet computer), maternal screen use, confounders such as maternal mental health and importance of effect sizes.
Co-Head, The ORIGINS Project
Iron deficiency (ID) is the most common nutritional deficiency affecting young children. Serum ferritin concentration is the preferred biomarker for measuring iron status because it reflects iron stores; however, blood collection can be distressing for young children and can be logistically difficult. A noninvasive means to measure iron status would be attractive to either diagnose or screen for ID in young children.
Children far in advance of pubertal development may be deferred from further assessment for gender-affirming medical treatment until nearer puberty. It is vital that returning peripubertal patients are seen promptly to ensure time-sensitive assessment and provision of puberty suppression treatment where appropriate.
There is mounting concern over the potential harms associated with ultra-processed foods, including poor mental health and antisocial behavior. Cutting-edge research provides an enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms, including microbiome pathways, and invites a historical reexamination of earlier work that investigated the relationship between nutrition and criminal behavior. Here, in this perspective article, we explore how this emergent research casts new light and greater significance on previous key observations.
Early onset Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), including obesity, allergies, and mental ill-health in childhood, present a serious and increasing threat to lifelong health and longevity. The ORIGINS Project (ORIGINS) addresses the urgent need for multidisciplinary efforts to understand the detrimental multisystem impacts of modern environments using well-curated large-scale longitudinal biological sample collections.