Psychoanalyst Dr. Erica Komisar advises atheists to profess a belief in God for the good of their kids
Everyone remembers the children’s fable about a chicken called “Chicken Little” or “Henny Penny” who believes that the sky is falling when an acorn falls on its head. While the phrase “the sky is falling” is now something of a cliche, it pops up, now and again, especially during pandemic times. Raising or working with…
The state needs to stop trying to replace parents
Children have always lived in an adult-centric world. Spend only an hour or two in an airport and ask yourself, “For who was this space designed?” Air travel is taxing at any age, but children are a secondary thought in these busy spaces. Children’s vulnerability has historically resulted in being dismissed at best as irrational…
Two infectious disease experts answer your questions
Ever since Canada approved the child-sized Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 and started to distribute nearly three million doses, some parents have jumped at the chance to get their kids vaccinated, while others still have questions. “Even before it was approved, about 50 per cent of parents were already very eager to immunize their children as soon as possible,” said…
Calls for rigorous research to determine if short-term medical use in children is safe
Pediatric researchers are calling for more rigorous research into the possible link between short-term opioid use for pain management in childhood and opioid use disorder later in life. The University of Alberta team reviewed the results of 21 previous studies but found no definitive answer to the question, according to a new study published this week in…
Emilie Lefebvre helps French-speaking youngsters overcome their speech-related challenges
Planning her career as a speech-language pathologist, Emilie Lefebvre wanted to work with bilingual adults, but a happy whirl of Francophonie Week celebrations changed her mind. The festivities by an Edmonton school board tugged at her own French-language roots while she worked there on a clinical placement to finish her University of Alberta education, and…
There needs to be caution about any coercion that could harm our children
The Canadian Academics for Covid Ethics (CA4CE) is a group of researchers and scholars from fields spanning the natural and social sciences and humanities. It is concerned with the mismanagement of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response in Canada and around the world. The following commentary was written by Alexander Andrée, PhD, Valentina Capurri, PhD, Claudia…
Research explores the impact of obesity-related stigma on young people – and how to end it
“We should just keep weight out of everyday conversation with our kids.” That’s the conclusion Alexa Ferdinands came to after interviewing young people about their experiences with obesity-related stigma for her PhD in health promotion and socio-behavioural sciences in the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health. “When it comes to nutrition, there are so…
Infections peak in January to June – a pattern that could help the health-care system plan
Researchers have identified a clear-cut seasonal pattern of respiratory viruses that could help hospitals plan for waves of sick patients. Bouts of respiratory illness from six viruses that were analyzed all peak in January and hit a low in June, with the peaks worse every second year, according to lead researcher Michael Hawkes, a pediatrics…
Edmonton researchers provide the tools parents need to make informed decisions about their children’s health in a crisis
It’s midnight and your four-year-old child is congested and struggling to breathe, with a barky cough. Do you go to the nearest hospital? The children’s hospital across town? Do you wait and call your family doctor in the morning? Many parents experience situations like this, and it’s terrifying. Edmonton researchers Lisa Hartling and Shannon Scott…
Public policies can help support better individual choices
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light both weaknesses and opportunities in the way public policies can support children’s long-term health, according to the seventh and final Alberta Nutrition Report Card on Food Environments for Children and Youth, released recently. “Kids eat what’s available to them, what’s affordable and readily accessible,” said principal investigator Kim…