The ABS has released their regular survey of Australians and their health. There is a wealth of detail in there, but 62% of men, and 45% of women (up 4% each from 5 years ago) were overweight or obese. Mostly, the increase is in the obese proportion, as people moveContinue Reading
I’m in a new role which (in my small industry) means I’m running across a whole lot of people that I last saw 5-10 years ago. I’m constantly having to remind myself that just because they weren’t particularly helpful/good/on top of things (insert negative adjective here) doesn’t mean that theyContinue Reading
This week’s book review is The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery. I decided, when choosing my books for the Christmas holidays, that I really should find out what was really going on with global warming. I was sick of reading the carefully set out pro- and anti- columns in theContinue Reading
After a recent bout of illness I realised a bit more why some chronically ill people don’t get medical care for cost reasons. In two days I’ve been to the doctor twice, had an X-ray, and got 2 prescriptions – $230 in round numbers. I’ll get about $120 back, butContinue Reading
We’ve kept a diary for our two boys since they were born. I love looking back on it and reading, but it does facilitate comparisons between the two of them. I usually find that when I think D is drastically behind C in some developmental milestone he’s actually at aboutContinue Reading
Today’s SMH has an article comparing the water that has been saved from water restrictions in Sydney (78 billion litres pa) with the amount that would be available from a de-salination plant (45 billion litres pa), or the new miracle cure, groundwater (30 billion litres for three years). While youContinue Reading
I was really happy to see that the RU 486 bill had passed the senate. This was the Bill to end the Health Minister’s veto over the approval of RU 486 as an abortion drug. It passed 45 to 28, so I was suprised to see the commentary that itContinue Reading
There was an article in the SMH yesterday about how we are wired for aggression. Richard Tremblay, professor of pediatrics, psychology and psychiatry at the University of Montreal, says children are never more violent than between the ages of two and four. But with the help of their parents mostContinue Reading
For what feels like the 50th time today, I got a letter addressed solely to me from one of the boys’ activities. This one was from the music classes they both went to last term. It really annoys me. Every single one of their activities (swimming, playgroup, music etc etc)Continue Reading
I’ve been home on holidays for the past two weeks, and trying to sort out a few things. Yesterday, I tackled books. I read a book a few years ago talking about the ideal to organise books. One of the (all very sensible) things it said was “always leave roomContinue Reading