Children playing at the beach
Kids' health
Chickenpox
Chickenpox is a mild and common childhood illness, but can also occur in adults. Here’s how to help ease symptoms and discomfort.
Childhood illnesses
Many childhood diseases spread easily between family members and at schools. Read on to learn more about causes, symptoms, treatments and when to see ...
Childhood Obesity and Overweight Children
If you've learned that your child is overweight, there are simple steps you can take to help your child move towards a healthy weight.
Coughs, colds and ear infections in children
It’s normal for a child to have 8 or more colds per year. Read this article to find out more about common childhood ailments.
Diarrhoea and vomiting in children
These helpful tips can explain some of the causes of diarrhoea and vomiting in children and show you how to alleviate the symptoms.
Looking after a sick child
Find out how to best care for your child, make things as easy for yourself as you can, how to deal with minor accidents and where to get expert help.
Overactive Children and ADHD
Tips on identifying and coping with an overactive child.
Need more information?
These trusted information partners have more on this topic.
Top results
Raising sexually healthy children | Raising Children Network
Raising sexually healthy children isnt about having one big talk when the kids hit puberty. Heres how to talk to kids about all aspects of sexuality.
Read more on Raising Children Network website
Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children | Cochrane
Children (< 16 years old) and the elderly (above 65 years old) are the two age groups that appear to have the most complications following an influenza infection. Influenza has a viral origin and often results in an acute respiratory illness affecting the lower or upper parts of the respiratory tract, or both. Viruses are mainly of two subtypes (A or B) and spread periodically during the autumn-winter months. However, many other viruses can also cause respiratory tract illnesses.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Healthy Kids : What is healthy?
outlines what being healthy means and summarises the 5 steps to a healthy lifestyle
Read more on Healthy Kids website
Supporting healthy habits
You can help your children and young people establish healthy habits that theyll hopefully carry throughout their lives.
Read more on beyondblue website
Healthy habits for a healthy life: 12 tips | Raising Children Network
Tips for avoiding childhood overweight and obesity by leading a healthy, active family lifestyle.
Read more on Raising Children Network website
Childrens mental health: how to boost it | Raising Children Network
Your child needs good mental health. You can promote childrens mental health with positive relationships, behaviour support, a healthy lifestyle and more.
Read more on Raising Children Network website
Healthy Kids : 5 Ways to a Healthy Lifestyle
Find out how you can change your bad habits easily through following 5 ways to a healthy lifestyle.
Read more on Healthy Kids website
Obesity - A healthy lifestyle for a healthy weight | The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
Read more on Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection | myVMC
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a very common virus that causes mild cold-like symptoms in adults and older healthy children
Read more on myVMC – Virtual Medical Centre website
Spina Bifida - Healthy Lifestyle for Spina Bifida | The Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
Read more on Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website
Top results
Different antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in otherwise healthy children younger than 18 years of age in hospital and outpatient settings | Cochrane
Different antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in otherwise healthy children younger than 18 years of age in hospital and outpatient settings
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Acyclovir can reduce the number of days with fever in otherwise healthy children with chickenpox, but its effect on sores and itching is not yet certain | Cochrane
Acyclovir can reduce the number of days with fever in otherwise healthy children with chickenpox, but its effect on sores and itching is not yet certain
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Short course antibiotics for healthy children with uncomplicated acute otitis media | Cochrane
Acute otitis media (AOM), or middle ear infection, is a common childhood illness, with more than half of all children having at least one infection by the time they are seven. Although otitis media often resolves without treatment, it is frequently treated with antibiotics. The length of treatment varies widely. This review of 49 trials found that treating children with a short course (less than seven days) of antibiotics, compared to treatment with a long course (seven days or greater) of antibiotics, increases the likelihood of treatment failure in the short term. No differences are seen one month later. The amount of gastrointestinal adverse events decreased with a shorter course of antibiotics.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
You’re in a relationship? It’s OK to use the ‘F’ word
Family. There, we’ve said it. Many couples put off discussing when to start theirs. But don’t wait too long. Fertility rates and the chances of having healthy children start to drop sooner than you might imagine.
Read more on Your Fertility website
Calcium for improving bone mineral density in children | Cochrane
While there is a small effect of calcium supplementation in the upper limb, the increase in BMD which results is unlikely to result in a clinically significant decrease in fracture risk. The results do not support the use of calcium supplementation in healthy children as a public health intervention. These results cannot be extrapolated to children with medical conditions affecting bone metabolism.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Healthy Kids : Make Healthy Normal
Read more on Healthy Kids website
Exercise for preventing and treating anxiety and depression in children and young people | Cochrane
Exercise is promoted as an active strategy to prevent and treat depression and anxiety. We found that the research data are sparse and mostly done on college students. Six small trials indicate that exercise decreases reported anxiety scores in healthy children when compared to no intervention. Five small trials indicate that exercise decreases reported depression scores when compared to no intervention. The research base for children in treatment is scarce; only three small trials investigated the effect of exercise in depression.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Post-exposure prophylaxis vaccine to prevent varicella (chickenpox) | Cochrane
This review assessed how useful the varicella (also known as chickenpox) vaccine is in preventing chickenpox when given to children or adults who have never been immunised or previously had chickenpox, but who receive the vaccine within a short time following exposure to a person infectious with chickenpox. Varicella is a highly contagious viral infection characterised by a widespread pustular rash, fever and generally feeling unwell. We identified three trials involving 110 healthy children who were siblings of household contacts.
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Healthy Kids : Population Survey reports
Read more on Healthy Kids website
Healthy Kids : NSW Population Child Health Survey
Key findings from the 2009-10 Australian National Childrens Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey on the food habits, physical activity patterns and weight status of Australian children.
Read more on Healthy Kids website
