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Understanding how families engage with screen technologies and how it may influence child development
Reviewing the development and wellbeing of children, prior to them commencing kindergarten
The Happy Parenting Program is investigating new ways to provide support to parents with young children from an early age.
Assessing a dental photographic method as an alternative dental screening method.
Research
The Flourishing Child: Understanding how Adults and Children Perceive Flourishing from the Start of LifeThe current narrative surrounding children’s health and wellbeing often focuses on adversity and dysregulation with a lack of positive messaging. However, promoting protective and buffering factors may be as important as reducing adverse exposures. While the concept of flourishing is commonly applied in the context of adults, defining what flourishing means for children in current academic literature remains unclear.
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Urinary Ferritin as a Noninvasive Means of Assessing Iron Status in Young ChildrenIron 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.
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The ORIGINS Project Biobank: A Collaborative Bio Resource for Investigating the Developmental Origins of Health and DiseaseEarly 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.
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“Coronavirus Changed the Rules on Everything”: Parent Perspectives on How the COVID‐19 Pandemic Influenced Family Routines, Relationships and Technology Use in Families with InfantsThis study explores how the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic influenced family routines, relationships and technology use (smartphones and tablet computers) among families with infants. Infancy is known to be an important period for attachment security and future child development, and a time of being susceptible to changes within and outside of the family unit.
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Comparison of experiences in two birth cohorts comprising young families with children under four years during the initial Covid-19 lockdown in Australia and the UK: A qualitative studyThis study aims to understand the experience and impact of the initial COVID-19 lock-down in young families with children aged below 4 years. Free text questions were administered to participants in the ORIGINS (Australia) and Born in Bradford (UK) cohort studies to collect qualitative information on worries, concerns and enjoyable experiences during the pandemic.
Research
The feasibility of a digital health approach to facilitate remote dental screening among preschool children during COVID-19 and social restrictionsTele-dentistry can be useful to facilitate screening of children, especially those living in rural and remote communities, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluated the feasibility of tele-dental screening for the identification of early childhood caries (ECC) in preschoolers using an app operated by their parents with remote review by oral-health therapists.