Better treats for children

Better treats for children

From Growing up WEIRD Podcast by Guen Bradbury and Greg Dickens

January 13, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of a baby's labor experience on stress responses, the effects of movement on school performance, and rethinking treats for children.

In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss how a baby’s experience of labour shapes their stress responses in childhood, and why that matters. We talk about how a few minutes of movement affect how children perform in school. We then talk about treats - what they are, what they could be, and how we can set them up differently. Finally, we answer a listener question about how we respond to research that suggests that we or our children might be at higher risk of health problems in the future. To read more about creating better treats, see here: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/how-to-get-kids-to-crave-healthy Topics covered * Does a child’s experience of labour affect their later response to stress? * How does a few minutes of movement affect children’s school performance? * What makes a treat? * Why might we want to think differently about treats? * How might we respond to research that suggests that we are at higher risk of health problems? These other podcast episodes cover related topics: Notes Evolved birth physiology meets modern birth practice: Sustained effects of planned cesarean delivery on child hair cortisol in Brazil…

People in this episode

Hosts: Greg Dickens, Guen Bradbury

Topics covered

  • child stress responses
  • movement and school performance
  • treats for children
  • health risks
  • parenting strategies

Keywords

  • child development
  • stress response
  • school performance
  • healthy treats
  • parenting

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