So many people get their health information from social media now that there is a growing risk and solid evidence that some couples are missing out on the most valuable scientific facts of life. DrJeff McMullenwrites.

THIS NEW YEAR began joyously for my family with the birth of a healthy grandson.

With the cry of each newborn child, we renew our sense of hope, wonder and purpose.

While our world is broken in many places, children suffering terribly through war, famine and natural disasters, surely every one of these little voices is a reminder that we are here together, part of the human family. We owe every child the opportunity for health.

I share with you here what I have gleaned from some of the leading experts, including mothers and fathers, on the fine art of making healthy babies.

Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder need more help

Because of ignorance, diagnosis and treatment of children with FASD are delayed even though early intervention is of utmost importance for children with associated problems.

Elizabeth Elliott, world-renowned Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Sydney and the Childrens Hospital at Westmead, NSW, tells me:

These are critically important actions for the health of your baby. Folate prevents severe birth defects such asspina bifidaand iron prevents maternal anaemia, and smoking may cause premature delivery and low birth weight.

As almost 60% of Australian pregnancies are unplanned, women and male partners need to think twice when they stop contraception. If they are even considering starting a family and want to give their baby every chance of good health, both parents need to work supportively on good health habits, particularly avoiding harm caused by alcohol.

Professor Elliott says:

Only in the past decade has global research emerged indicating that a fatherspre-conception alcoholuse (PCA) may result in changes to the number of male sperm and their ability to penetrate the egg. There may also be changes to sperm DNA that may impact outcomes in the unborn child.

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We need to heed research at the University of California, Riverside by neuroscientist ProfessorKelly Huffman, indicating that a males heavy drinking of alcohol may causeepigenetic changesthat may be passed on to future generations of offspring in varying degrees:

Another leading developmental physiologist at Texas A&M University, ProfessorMichael Golding, advises that prospective fathers with consistently very high levels of alcohol usage should abstain for at least three months prior to conceiving a child:

In Australias drinking culture, Professor Elliott points out:

We should be grateful for the wonderful research and advocacy by Australian women who are champions for children. This includes the late DrTracey Tsangfrom the University of Sydney, whose groundbreaking publication last year provided the first estimate of theprevalenceof Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Australias general population.

Thestudy foundthat up to one in 28 Australians or roughly one child per classroom may be living with FASD, a potentially preventable condition caused by prenatal alcohol exposure but often unrecognised.

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Professor Elliot, who was also a key member of the Sydney University research team, says:

I am often confronted by the frustration of families living with FASD, trying to manage this lifelong condition that benefits from early diagnosis. Both diagnosis and early intervention are often delayed. There is still widespread inattention to the truth that FASD is the most common preventable cause of acquired brain injury, neurodevelopmental disability and birth defects in Australia.

Sophie Harrington, the CEO of the National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (NOFASD) Australia, is a mother of a teenager with FASD.

Sophie says:

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Professor Elliott agrees it is time for nationwide action:

Perhaps we need to personalise our efforts to improve the health of children?

Thinking carefully about this, I asked my daughter-in-law how she had prepared for the marathon effort required for her healthy pregnancy and birth. Its mainly common sense, she replied modestly.

My son added, We both had first-rate health education even in high school.

I will be forever respectful of the openness of such family discussions and the impressive quality of their teachers instruction on all aspects of health. The risks associated with alcohol or drug usage before and during pregnancy were clearly outlined and understood.

Looking back to when my boy and girl were very young, it wasKen Wyatt, a Noongar man, former Indigenous Health Administrator in both NSW and Western Australia, and a former Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Aged Care, who gave me the most astonishing scientific incentive for alife-skilling approach.

Wyatt had research indicating that for every extra year of education we add to a young girls schooling, we will reduce infant mortality by 7-10%.

For some 25 years, as I have promoted literacy as the key to better health for all children, I have drawn also on the research by Canadas brilliant scientist, DrFraser Mustard.

I find myself looking into the eyes of any young person now at the appropriate time, as if they are my son or daughter, repeating Dr Mustards facts of life:

DrJeff McMullenAM is a journalist, author and filmmaker known for his reporting and advocacy for 60 years. McMullen has been a foreign correspondent for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, reporter forFour CornersandSixty Minutes, anchor of the 33-part issue series on ABC Television,Difference of Opinionand director of independent documentaries. He was awarded the United Nations Media Peace Prize for his trilogy of hour-long documentaries about conflicts in Central America.