The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health in conversation with

How many steps do preschool children (aged 3–4 years) take per day? Physical activity in early childhood is important for good health and development, and step counts represent a simple, objective, and widely accessible proxy measure of physical activity. In this episode, Dr Jesús del Pozo Cruz and Dr Chalchisa Abdeta join Esther Lau to discuss the SUNRISE study, which aimed to establish global re...

Dysmenorrhoea, also known as period pain, is a leading cause of pain-related school absenteeism among adolescent girls, yet it remains poorly understood and is frequently dismissed. Many adolescents do not receive a pain assessment until their symptoms become severe and disabling, and emerging evidence suggests that untreated dysmenorrhoea may increase the risk of chronic pain later in life. But w...

2026 marks a remarkable decade since the regulatory approval of the very first disease-modifying therapy (nusinersin) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in 2016. In this episode with Josefine Gibson, Professor Michelle Farrar and Dr Sharika Raga from Sydney Children's Hospital share their perspectives on how diagnostic and therapeutic advances for SMA have transformed the lives of children and fami...

Boys and young men are often missing from conversations about adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Yet, girls do not live in isolation: boys share their classrooms, relationships, communities, and futures. In this episode, Mark Tomlinson and Maria Lohan join Esther Lau to explore how to engage boys in ways that support, rather than compete with, continued investment in girl...

Adolescent nutrition is at a turning point. 🌍 Dr Sara Estecha-Querol from the Global Adolescent Nutrition Network and youth advocate Milca Jane Cameseria from Act4Food join Josefine Gibson to talk about a new co-created global framework for adolescent nutrition — and why young people must be at the centre of adolescent nutrition research, policy, advocacy, and food systems change. Together, we ex...

This episode considers how antibiotic use can be safely reduced in children in high-risk scenarios or with severe infections. To discuss this we are joined by Dr Nadja Vissing and Dr Ulrikka Nygaard, paediatric infectious disease specialists from Copenhagen University Hospital, who led a randomized controlled trial in Denmark evaluating the early discontinuation of empirical antibiotics versus ext...

Controlled medicines are essential in paediatric care yet children everywhere—and especially in low- and middle-income countries—face challenges in accessing controlled medicines for their medical needs and to alleviate serious health-related suffering. In this episode, Belén Tarrafeta and Hazel Gutiérrez join Josefine Gibson to discuss misconceptions that have led to children’s access being overl...

Those working in clinical trials will recall that in 2025 updates were published for the SPIRIT standard clinical trial protocol items and the CONSORT guideline for reporting randomised clinical trials.  The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health will be co-publishing the first child and adolescent extensions to the SPIRIT and CONSORT reporting guidelines, along with the BMJ and JAMA Paediatrics. In...

In this episode, co-hosted by our Senior Editor Amy Slogrove and our Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Youth Advisory Panel member, Matea Canizares, we discuss adolescent digital intimate partner violence. *Intimate partner violence might be a difficult topic for some, please take care if this is so for you, and do step away from this episode if you feel the need.* Amy and Matea are in conversa...

Dr Jason Nagata discusses his Review on muscle dysmorphia, a pathological preoccupation with being insufficiently muscular, and how paediatricians can help young people navigate body image concerns. Click here to read the full review: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(25)00283-4/fulltext Continue this conversation on social! Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsk...

Ableism is a type of discriminatory bias, like racism and sexism for example, that speaks particularly to the idea that there is one standard human norm that exists and any ways of being human that don't meet this standard are considered inferior. In this episode with neonatologist and developmental paediatrician Dr Paige Church we discuss the presence of ableism in paediatrics, and child and adol...

Dr Rachel Reid-McCann (University of Oxford, Oxford, UK) speaks with Acting Editor-in-Chief Ali Landman about her recent paper "Longitudinal association between dysmenorrhoea in adolescence and chronic pain in adulthood: a UK population-based study". Read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(25)00213-5/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_October_25_la...

Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta, Georgia Dominguez, and Naeha Sharma join acting Editor-in-Chief Ali Landman to discuss their Health Policy paper "Who protects the children and women of Sudan?", analysing the scale and severity of the grave violations of war against children and women in Sudan and proposing immediate and long-term strategic actions to respond to the humanitarian crisis and ensure long-term rec...

Paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis before the age of 18 years, although uncommon, is associated with a higher disease burden than adult onset MS, early and progressive motor and cognitive disability, and high levels of depression and fatigue. In this episode Ann Yeh, Professor of Paediatrics and neurologist in Toronto, Canada, highlights the global considerations in preventing MS disease progress...

June 25, 2025, saw the publication of The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Commission on the future of neonatology. The product of 3 years of dedicated international and interdisciplinary collaboration, the Commission builds on perspectives and experiences of clinical professionals who provide specialised care for neonates and are driven to develop evidence-based and equitable neonatal medicin...

Autism and ADHD continue to be the subjects of much debate and misunderstanding and until 2013 diagnostic manuals did not allow for the co-occurrence of autism and ADHD.  In this episode Thora Halldórsdóttir and Kristín Sigurdardottir, clinical psychologists and researchers from Iceland, join us to talk about the key findings from the study they led in Iceland that provides the first nationwide, p...

Mpox continues to spread in Africa and young children are experiencing the highest mpox burden and mortality of all ages.  In this episode Kyeng Mercy, epidemiologist at Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention takes us through the continental response to mpox, the Africa CDC data on mpox in children younger than 15 years, and African priorities in response to the mpox public health emerg...

Dr Anna Giolito and Professor Naïm Ouldali join Josefine Gibson to discuss their latest research on dexamethasone for paediatric pneumococcal meningitis. Read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(25)00029-X/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchi Continue this conversation on social! Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ http...

Deborah Fry from Childlight – Global Child Safety Institute talks with Amy Slogrove about the first global prevalence study of Online Childhood Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Read the full article here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(24)00329-8/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchi Content warning: This conversation is about child sexual abuse. Pleas...

Kathy Pritchard-Jones (University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK) joins Ali Landman in conversation about tumour staging in childhood cancer, international standardisation of health data collection, and how to improve childhood cancer survival. Read the full article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(24)00302-X/fulltext?dgcid=...

Amy Slogrove, Senior Editor for The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health delves into the groundbreaking LEAPS trial with Dr. Saima Siyal from Aga Khan University and Dr. Aisha Yousafzai from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  Discover how this innovative program trained young women to deliver early childhood care and education in rural Pakistan, significantly improving school readiness and...

Professor Akash Deep joins Josefine Gibson in conversation about paediatric acute liver failure and when a critically ill child is unsuitable for liver transplantation. Continue this conversation on social! Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://www.linkedin.com/company/lanchi/ https://youtube.c...

In this conversation we grapple with the complexity of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and discuss the Viewpoint published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health on "Asking difficult questions about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, in the context of the child, the mother, and the systems in which they live". Read the full Viewpoint: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-464...

Paediatric Sepsis Series contributors Nelson Sánchez-Pinto and Luregn Schlapbach join Josefine Gibson to mark World Sepsis Day 2024. Read the full Series: https://www.thelancet.com/series/paediatric-sepsis?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchi Continue this conversation on social! Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/t...

Marisa Stahl and Edwin Liu join Amy Slogrove in conversation about their Review in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health on coeliac disease, the commonest autoimmune disease in children, and what we can learn from prospective longitudinal studies. Read the full Review: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(23)00232-8/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_generic_lanchi C...