Show Notes
In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how overstimulating babies with lots of toys can affect their learning, and on how vegetarian and vegan diets affect children’s health. We then talk about tummy time - what it is, why it was developed, why it’s problematic, and how babies can get similar benefits in other ways. We finish by talking about why different women have different levels of risk when birthing at home or in hospital, and why you might want to weigh up risks beyond mortality. For more information on tummy time, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/is-tummy-time-necessary Topics covered * How do Christmas presents affect children? * Do vegetarian and vegan diets affect children’s health and growth? * What is tummy time? * Why is tummy time problematic, and what else can we do? * Why are the risks of maternal mortality in home vs hospital birth equivalent in the UK? These other podcasts cover related topics: Some of my subscribers have been urging me for a while to turn on the paid option to increase my Substack visibility. I’ve quietly turned on the paid option for this newsletter with a January special offer. Everything stays free, but you’d like to support my work, you can now upgrade – completely optional, always appreciated. Notes “Repetition is key to early learning as parents are warned not to stimulate babies with too much information.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/02/the-secret-to-making-your-child-clever/ “In conclusion, this systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that lacto-ovo-vegetarian and vegan diets in childhood can be nutrient-rich and support healthy growth when carefully planned. These diets may confer health benefits, including greater consumption of plant foods and improved cardiovascular risk profiles, while also aligning with ethical and environmental values. However, they pose a higher risk of specific nutrient deficiencies if key nutrients are not supplied through fortified foods or supplements.” https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10408398.2025.2572983? “The evidence for the global agreement on the association between the prevalence of stunting and chronic undernutrition in modern and historic populations is weak. We find overwhelming evidence to support the vision that stunting is the natural condition of human height also in the affluent and well-nourished social strata of feudal rural and urban societies.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajhb.23693 References on home and hospital birth in this article: Hello! My name’s Guen. I’m a veterinarian by background and I’ve worked in health innovation for a decade. I spent eighteen months living in traditional villages across Africa and South America, learning from communities that raise children in very different ways. My passion is helping parents, doctors, and teachers identify small things they can do to set children up for better long-term physical health. If you’re interested in this area, drop your email below and I’ll send you bi-weekly articles and podcast episodes with stories from other cultures and deep scientific dives on different aspects of child development and health. It’s free, easy, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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If you like to listen - hit play. If you prefer to read, click the transcript button top right on the web version. In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how a child’s microbiome is associated with their risk of type 1 diabetes, how different types of risk factors predict the later risk of cardiovascular disease, and how a person’s birth order affects their risk of different diseases. We then talk about how independent mobility might influence a child’s wellbeing, and how different types of light affect the risk of short-sightedness in tree shrews. We then talk about frustration tolerance, why children need it, and how we can help them learn this skill. Finally, we talk about our children’s school’s new sliced-grape policy, and the risks it poses to children’s health. For more information on how to reduce parental frustration, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/making-children-unfrustratable-part-df0 For more information on allergy development, see this podcast episode:https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/avoiding-allergies My veterinary degree taught me about mammalian body systems. My career in health research taught me about Western health and Western bodies. Spending 18 months living with my three children in remote African and South American communities taught me about human health and human bodies in other cultural environments. I share what I’ve learned about child physical health and development in bi-weekly articles and podcast episodes. Everything is free, but if you find my work useful and would like to show your support, you can now upgrade – completely optional, always appreciated. Topics covered * How is a child’s microbiome associated with their risk of type 1 diabetes? * How do different frameworks for assessing cardiovascular risk compare, and what do they tell us about the health of young adults in the US? * How does a person’s birth order affect their risk of different diseases? * Why might independent mobility reduce a child’s wellbeing? * How do different types of light affect the risk of shortsightedness in tree shrews? * Why do children need to be frustrated? * What does ‘good frustration’ look like for children, and how can we provide it? * What are the unintended consequences of asking parents of school-age children to cut up grapes? Recent episodes Notes Gut microbiome maturation in early childhood interacts with host genetics to predict type 1 diabetes risk https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-026-01614-9 “Among 1283 FF-CHAYA participants (mean [SD] age, 22.9 [0.7] years; 54.4% women), 20.7% of participants were classified as Stage 0 CKM (no risk factors), 40.2% as Stage 1 CKM (excess adiposity), 36.2% as Stage 2 CKM (metabolic risk factors), and 2.8% as Stage 3 CKM (subclinical cardiovascular disease or advanced kidney disease).” https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.125.013042 “First-borns carry excess risk for neurodevelopmental conditions (other/unspecified pervasive-developmental-disorder (PDD) code group odds ratio (OR) = 0.57, autism OR = 0.74, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder OR = 0.93) and immune-allergic diseases (food allergy OR = 0.80, allergic rhinitis OR = 0.91); second-borns for substance abuse (OR = 1.19) and gastrointestinal conditions (gastritis/duodenitis OR = 1.14).” https://www.nature.com/articles/s44360-026-00177-z “Greater independent mobility was associated with lower wellbeing in children” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666558126001041 “Prevention of myopia in a near-primate by supplemental indigo light suggests a hypothesis for the myopia boom” https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-medicine/fulltext/S2666-3791(26)00416-7 “Should peanut be allowed in schools? Yes” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5638466/ “The present findings show that entitlement is the type of frustration intolerance belief that contributes the most to bullying involvement. Interventions targeting irrational entitlemen
If you like to listen - hit play. If you prefer to read, click the transcript button top right on the web version. In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how a child’s exposure to interparental violence is linked to their risk of cancer in adulthood. We talk about the effects of early life sleep deprivation and sugar restriction on the risk of dementia, and then review a paper on the skills required for children to stay home alone. We then talk about frustration tolerance - what it is, why it’s important, and why we might try avoiding modelling frustration behaviours for children. Finally, we talk about how we try to set children up to not want sugar. For more information on how to reduce parental frustration, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/making-children-unfrustratable-part For more information on helping children to not want sugar, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/raising-children-who-dont-want-sugar
If you like to listen - hit play. If you prefer to read, click the transcript button top right on the web version. In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how outdoor play in preschoolers predicts their risk of mental health problems in later childhood. We talk about biological aging in different generations, and how that influences people’s risk of disease. We then talk about toddlers falling over - why it’s so vital for body and brain health and why toddlers don’t fall down as much as they should. We talk about how we can set toddlers up to fall more in early life so they fall less in adulthood. Finally we talk about tree climbing - why it’s important, and what simple rules support safe climbing. For more information on how toddlers learn from falling, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/dont-stop-your-child-falling-over For more information on helping children develop upper body strength, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/why-hanging-by-the-arms-helps-children My veterinary degree taught me about mammalian body systems. My career in health research taught me about Western health and Western bodies. Spending 18 months living with my three children in remote African and South American communities taught me about human health and human bodies in other cultural environments. I share what I’ve learned about child physical health and development in weekly articles and podcast episodes. Everything is free, but if you find my work useful and would like to show your support, you can now upgrade – completely optional, always appreciated. Topics covered * How outdoor play in early life affects children’s risk of mental health problems * Why different generations age at different speeds, and what affects this * Why falling over is so important for toddlers * Why toddlers don’t fall over enough * How to help toddlers fall over more * Whether children should climb trees Recent episodes Notes Early outdoor play predicts trajectories of child mental health in a population-based cohort: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.70175 Biological aging and generational shifts in early-onset cancer risk: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04448-w
If you like to listen - hit play. If you prefer to read, click the transcript button top right on the web version. In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how children’s willingness to take risks during play affects how they take risks when crossing the road. We talk about air pollution and about the recently renamed ‘PCOS’ (now Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome). We talk about how ultraprocessed food reprograms taste preferences, and how certain probiotics affect that. We then discuss our recent article on satiety - helping children to feel full. Finally, we discuss what to do if your toddler doesn’t want to consume anything other than milk. For more information on how to set children up to recognise when they are full, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/how-do-we-help-children-stop-eating For more information on picky eating, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/why-arent-all-children-picky-eaters My veterinary degree taught me about mammalian body systems. My career in health research taught me about Western health and Western bodies. Spending 18 months living with my three children in remote African and South American communities taught me about human health and human bodies in other cultural environments. I share what I’ve learned about child physical health and development in weekly articles and podcast episodes. Everything is free, but if you find my work useful and would like to show your support, you can now upgrade – completely optional, always appreciated. Topics covered * How children’s risk willingness affects their ability to cross roads * When air pollution affects children most, and what we can do * Why PCOS has been renamed * How ultraprocessed food affects taste preferences in children, and what probiotics do to this * How children learn to feel full * How to help older babies satisfy their hunger with food rather than milk Recent episodes Notes The developmental importance of risky play: A cross-national virtual reality study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494426001635 Prenatal and early life exposure to air pollution and lung function development aged 8-24 years: The ALSPAC study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935126006080 Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, the new name for polycystic ovary syndrome: a multistep global consensus process: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00717-8/fulltext Early Exposure to High-Sucrose Diet Leads to Deteriorated Ovarian Health: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8092397/ Bifidobacterium longum and prebiotic interventions restore early-life high-fat/high-sugar diet-induced alterations in feeding behavior in adult mice: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-68968-2
In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how environmental exposures in early childhood affect adulthood health, and on the link between low socioeconomic status in childhood and worse physical health in adulthood. We talk about muscular strength and how it influences cognitive and psychological health. We then discuss last week’s article on laundry and health. Finally, we discuss the tradeoffs between washing harmful chemicals off the skin and damaging the skin barrier. For more information on how to do laundry in a way that reduces harms to health, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/weird-laundry-habits-can-increase For more information on how often to wash children, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/how-clean-should-children-be My veterinary degree taught me about mammalian body systems. My career in health research taught me about Western health and Western bodies. Spending 18 months living with my three children in remote African and South American communities taught me about human health and human bodies in other cultural environments. I share what I’ve learned about child physical health and development in weekly articles and podcast episodes. Everything is free, but if you find my work useful and would like to show your support, you can now upgrade – completely optional, always appreciated. Topics covered * Why are environmental effects in early life so important to a child’s risk of future disease? * What mediates the link between low socioeconomic status in childhood and chronic disease in adulthood? * Why is muscular strength important for brain health in old age? * Why do we do laundry, what are the health effects, and how can we do it better? * How should we weigh up the risks of environmental toxins with the risks of washing clothes and skin? Recent episodes Notes Understanding environmental exposures in early life for lifelong health (Nature Comment paper): https://www.nature.com/articles/s44360-026-00130-0.epdf Breastfeeding may lessen socioeconomic disparities in child health through differences in the infant gut microbiome: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666379126001722 Kicking Back Cognitive Ageing: Leg Power Predicts Cognitive Ageing after Ten Years in Older Female Twins https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4789972/ The Association between Lower Extremity Muscular Strength and Cognitive Function in a National Sample of Older Adults https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6239135/ Investigating the mediating effect of myokines on exercise-induced cognitive changes in older adults: A living systematic review and meta-analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40998287/