A healthy Australia

Australians’ overall health continues to fare well when compared with similar countries despite significant impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing burden of chronic conditions.

Playing for life

Physical recreation and group activities can boost mental health and sports clubs can help by adopting more evidence-based techniques to understand their members.

A magic pill or a mass experiment?

The bestselling author of Lost Connections and Stolen Focus takes a revelatory look at the new drugs transforming weight loss as we know it – sharing his personal experience on Ozempic and examining our ability to heal society’s dysfunctional relationship with food, weight and our bodies.

What the experts say…on pharmacy vapes

Vapes will only be sold over the counter in pharmacies after the government agreed to amend its vaping legislation to secure the support of the Greens. What do the experts say?

5 myths of eco-friendly eating

Determining the environmental and health impacts of different foods is highly complex, but some commonly held myths about food that’s both good for people and the planet need to be dispelled.

CSIRO partners to strengthen regional health

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, will partner with governments across the Pacific and Southeast Asia to help them better prepare for, and respond to, disease outbreaks.

Get your hands dirty

Exposure to a diverse range of soil bacteria in playgrounds could help children to boost their immune systems and gut health, according to Flinders University researchers, who put the concept to the test by investigating play areas at 22 childcare centres in Adelaide.

The big freeze

Marketing may give the impression that egg-freezing is a ‘silver bullet’ for anyone wanting to delay their childbearing years, when in fact it’s expensive, invasive, and far from failsafe.

Happier children mean happier adults

A new study suggests it’s time the eradication of child maltreatment became a major public health priority to reduce the later toll of adult mental illness.

Peddling junk

Aussie junk food companies strive hard to achieve positive press coverage while hampering efforts to restrict unhealthy food advertising, according to two papers by Australian researchers.

It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

UNSW experts say it’s never too late, nor too early, to adopt healthy habits that can delay the onset of dementia.

Low impact care for back pain

Women’s back pain is being taken increasingly seriously but common spinal surgeries can be costly and risky, encouraging the adoption of non-surgical, low-cost, low-impact alternatives.