Thanks to Froncesca Jackson-Webb, for providing this update of the latest health and medical reading at The Conversation.
From scraping by to pizza and pie: how protein price drives obesity
By Rob Brooks, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Director, Evolution & Ecology Research Centre at the University of NSW
For the first time ever, the number of overweight people on Earth outweighs the number that are undernourished. From the obesity crisis flows a cascade of health and social problems: it burdens healthcare services, hobbles workforces and ruins lives.
Yet despite its tragic importance, we still don’t fully understand the causes of the obesity crisis. Energy-dense foods are definitely part of the problem though.
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Square eyes: how much TV is too much for kids?
By Chris Rissel, Professor of Public Health at University of Sydney
If you’ve ever sat your toddler down in front of the television to give yourself a few minutes of much-needed rest, you’re certainly not alone.
But for many parents, those few minutes of bliss that come with quiet kids can turn into hours.
The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children found kids as young as three years could turn on the television themselves and were watching more than nine hours a week.
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Business as usual… another review reports but will the TGA become more transparent?
By Susan Walters, Adjunct Professor at University of New South Wales
The latest report on Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) activities – this one concerning transparency – has just been made public, two weeks after it was submitted to the government.
At least this one is now in the public domain, unlike earlier reports concerning the promotion of therapeutic goods, advertising standards and complementary medicines.
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Getting ‘em young: how early does mental health intervention need to be?
By Louise Newman, Professor & Director, Centre for Development Psychiatry at Monash University
The last Federal Government budget announcement revealed funds dedicated to “early intervention” mental health services for youth. But whether this intervention takes place in a timely manner for optimal impact remains unaddressed.
The debate following the budget announcement stirred up strong feelings on both sides. In the process, the parameters of the argument were reduced to the economic benefits of supporting services and intervention at an early stage of mental disorder.
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Giving what it takes: healthy priorities emerge from independent review of aid
By Rob Moodie, Professor of Global Health at the University of Melbourne & Kate Taylor, Visiting Fellow at Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne
Ever since the global financial crisis, “value for money” has become the slogan of choice for international aid.
The Americans have been in the lead, changing the rhetoric and practice of how they give aid. Efficiency and impact, accountability and transparency, and a view towards sustainability are what the modern aid agency should deliver.
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Doctors should focus on providing the best care, alternative or otherwise
By Marie Pirotta, Senior Research Fellow in General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Melbourne
Over half of Australians use complementary therapies, at a cost of about $AUD1.8 billion a year, to either prevent or treat health problems.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that three-quarters of million people see complementary therapists each year.
Most of these people don’t reject orthodox medicine – they are looking for answers for health problems that orthodox medicines don’t relieve or adequately address.
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When freedom is fatal: the preventable deaths of recently released prisoners
By Alex Wodak, Director, Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital
A study published in the Medical Journal of Australia concludes that more prison inmates in Australia die in the year after they’ve been released than the annual number of deaths in custody. A disproportionate number of these died within the first four weeks of their release.
Although consistent with international findings, the report should prompt health leaders and the community to try harder to reduce the numbers of prisoner deaths following release.
