Grandmother Project (GMP) - Change through Culture Collective responsibility for raising children has clear implications for newborn research and interventions, however, it is consistently overlooked in global health frameworks and interventions which narrowly focus on biological parents and offspring. In recognition that the family environment in which newborns begin life is critical to their health and survival, non-western cultures confer advisory and caregiving roles on different family members around new mothers. However, as this paper argues, ageism, sexism, and Western ideals of the nuclear family have excluded grandmothers from national and international policy initiatives to save newborn lives in the Global South. The paper provides examples of research from contexts in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that illustrate the need to embrace the role and influence of senior women, or grandmothers, in newborn care.
Could our descendants be affected by our long periods of fasting?
All the rage in weight-loss programmes, fasting is said to have benefits not only for health and weight loss, but also on lifespan.
However, according to a British study, following such a diet could impact our descendants’ reproduction capacities, according to researchers from the University of East Anglia.
“We know that reduced food intake increases the lifespan in many animals and can potentially improve health in humans,” outlined Dr Edward Ivimey-Cook from the university’s School of Biological Sciences.
“However, little is known about the long-term effects of reduced food intake, including time-limited fasting, on distant descendants.
"[T]he involvement and influence of senior women, or grandmothers, in child and maternal nutrition is much more significant than conventionally assumed by international public health and nutrition policy-makers and programme planners."
The study, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany s Mainz, showed that in most environments and situations, even simple surgical masks effectively reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the effective reproduction number for Covid-19.
The study, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany s Mainz, showed that in most environments and situations, even simple surgical masks effectively reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the effective reproduction number for Covid-19.