Body Mass Index (BMI) is particularly flawed as an indicator of health in children and ethnic minorities. So why do we still use it? In a new comment piece published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, registered dietician Lucy Carey argues that the use of the Body Mass Index in assessing children’s health is both … Read more
It’s a scary world out there, and there’s a lot for you as a parent to be frightened of. But what are the things you should be most freaked out about right now? Emily Writes has some suggestions. When I was pregnant with my firstborn I was extremely anxious about almost everything. Was my baby … Read more
In a video filmed for a conference the health minister was scheduled to open but then withdrew from, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver implores David Clark to pass a sugar tax. Watch below. Following on from the dressing down he directed at the National Party for failing to attend a sugar tax symposium last year, … Read more
Treating the types of conditions and injuries which present in this era requires doctors to become advocates as well as healers, writes Dr Jin Russell. Last Thursday, the National Rifle Association (NRA) posted a deeply provocative and surprisingly idiotic tweet about doctors in the United States. This move was a retaliation against an email from … Read more
They’ve left wiggle room for some rainy day expenses, but the Labour-led government more than anything has sought to sell today’s funding announcements as an exercise in cleaning up National’s mess. Rebecca Stevenson reports from Wellington Grant Robertson hammered a few key messages in his budget address today: this is a budget that will lay … Read more
In the first in our series on the midwifery crisis in New Zealand, Kimberley Davis writes about what it is a midwife does, and why midwives need higher wages and safer working conditions. You might have noticed there’s been a bit of a public fuss lately over the working and pay conditions of Aotearoa’s midwives. … Read more
It’s almost a rite of passage when you’re parenting small ones – what caused the violent rash spreading over your child’s hands and face? Donnelle Belanger-Taylor was surprised to find the source of her child’s week-long rash might be in your backyard. Send your kids outside, they said. It’ll be good for them, they said. Get … Read more
When Counties Manukau Health dropped plans for a Ronald McDonald House for families of Middlemore Hospital patients, many parents of very sick children were shocked. Caroline Beech explains why Ron’s House means so much to those who use it. The scan found our daughter’s tumour on a Tuesday. A week later we were on a … Read more
A baby girl with broken ribs is taken into government care; 14 months later her newborn brother is also taken into custody at an Auckland hospital. But the case is not as simple as it seems, writes Joris de Bres. Two weeks ago, newborn baby Liam* was taken from his parents at an Auckland hospital. … Read more
Inside the oncology day ward at Wellington Children’s Hospital, a little girl has her final round of chemotherapy. Her family allowed The Spinoff Parents to come to the session and share some of their story with readers. Photos by Danny Rood. Words by Emily Writes. Elliot Maria Win Beech loves kiwifruit so much she eats … Read more
Last week ActionStation and the Morgan Foundation launched Liz and Sam’s story. Since then, the pick-a-path game based on the lives of New Zealand families living on low incomes has been played close to 16,000 times. Its co-creator Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw explains the two years of research underpinning the game. Read Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw’s previous … Read more
Getting your kids to brush their teeth can be a nightmare – an unending, soul-destroying nightmare (*emphasis mine* – Emily Writes, Spinoff Parents editor and hater of brushing my child’s teeth). As part of Oral Health Month, dental hygienist and mother of three Leanne Jones – who seen the consequences of kids not brushing properly … Read more
When this mother gave birth, her daughter was unable to breathe on her own – for 11 long, agonising minutes. These days she has a different attitude to the developmental milestones that many parents take for granted. The author of this piece asked to be anonymous for her daughter’s privacy. I’ve always found the concept … Read more
Like a lot of mothers, Angela Cuming is frankly sick of Jamie Oliver parenting advice. Get ready for a rant about Oliver and the army of judgers who don’t know shit about kids who are picky eaters. I like to keep a couple of Jamie Oliver cookbooks in my kitchen. I find them incredibly handy … Read more
Of all of the parenting topics that turn into all-out war online – breast vs bottle, dummy-gate, circumcision or uncut grapes – the worst of all is surely vaccination. Here the Spinoff Parents’ science writer Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw discusses the importance of talking calmly about vaccination. In part one and part two of this series … Read more
This week Dr Lance O’Sullivan publicly criticised the film Vaxxed, expressing his despair that screenings are being held in some of New Zealand’s most deprived areas, where immunisation rates are already lower than average. Here The Spinoff Parents’ Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw looks at the current state of immunisation in our country – and explains why … Read more
Mum of three and clinical psychologist Holly Coombes has some tips for all parents about supporting children through anxiety. One of the hardest things as a parent can be to see your child struggling, and not know what to do. Parenting a child with anxiety can take this to the next level. You want to … Read more
New Zealand’s midwife shortage has been in the news a lot in the past week – but the working conditions of midwives has been an issue for much, much longer. Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes asked midwives to talk about why they do the vital work that they do. It’s a job few would sign … Read more
There are many victims of the spiralling property market, but the worst by far are those children whose health is wrecked for life by substandard, overcrowded accommodation. In this Rent Week reissue, Dr George Laking explains why the housing crisis should come with a health warning. Warning: contains photos of doctors and gory things. We … Read more
How important is a diagnosis? Jessie Moss is a mother who knows all to well how much a diagnosis can change a life – in fact, it saved her daughter’s. The day had arrived and we were eager to get on with it. As four adults sat awkwardly around a child size table for sick … Read more
Mum of three Juliet Speedy writes of the worry and eventual acceptance of having babies who move in their own time. My third child was one year and one week old when he started crawling. I rang my Mum. “Mum! I have an early mover. A baby that moves! What do I do with him?!” … Read more
This is The Spinoff Parents podcast, Dear Mamas, a straight-talking parenting conversation with Holly Walker and Emily Writes. Our brilliant and talented sponsors are Little Big Crate. Little Big Crate delivers gorgeous threads for your little big person, right to your front door. This episode includes discussion of the loss of a child, so please … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes exchanges emails with a paediatrician and asks all of your hard questions – and some inappropriate ones. Being a paediatrician is serious business. And as such they’re not really interested in answering questions a hypothetical editor of a hypothetical parenting section might ask about Hot Paediatricians being lusted after by thirsty mums. … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes sits down with a General Practitioner and asks all of the hard questions, from colic to reflux to tongue ties to bloody amber beads. This is the second in a series of posts in which I ask health professionals questions about child health, crowd-sourced from you. Today’s interviewee is a lovely … Read more
There’s no getting around it – blood tests suck, especially for confused and scared children (and their upset parents). Paediatric blood test veteran Kiki Van Newtown shares some advice for getting through the procedure with the minimum of tears. The wonderful Kiki Van Newtown is back writing for us again! If you didn’t read her … Read more
Emily Writes sits down with a dentist to drill him about kids and teeth and all the stuff parents need to know about dental health. Open wide, this shouldn’t hurt a bit… This is the first in a series of posts in which I’ll be asking health professionals questions about child health, crowd-sourced from you. … Read more
We have a word for children who have lost their parents, but no equivalent for parents who have faced the agony of losing a child. Tessa Prebble writes about the limbo of being a mother with no child to parent, 18 months after the death of her daughter Eva. What does it mean to be … Read more
‘Have you tried…?’ It’s the call of unsolicited advice-givers everywhere. Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw tackles the science (or the lack thereof) behind the latest fad treatments for babies – including those damn amber beads. The Krakatoa eruption had nothing on this. I watched in horror as a voluminous fountain of precious breast milk blasted high into … Read more