Childhood exploration
From Growing up WEIRD Podcast by Guen Bradbury and Greg Dickens
May 5, 2026 · 55 min
About this episode
The episode discusses childhood exploration, the impact of physical activities on muscle strength, and the evolving understanding of health related to sugar and mobility in children.
If you like to listen - hit play. If you prefer to read, click the transcript button top right on the web version. In this episode, Greg Dickens and I discuss recent news on how hanging and swinging from the arms affects the length and strength of our upper body muscles. We discuss how SSRI antidepressants alter gut function, and how new drug targets may better help new mothers. We then talk about the links between sugar and metabolic syndrome, and how the scientific understanding is evolving. We then discuss children’s independent mobility and exploration - what it is, why it’s important, and why it’s hard to provide in our culture. We then talk about how we navigate this, and how we reassure other adults in our community. Finally, we talk about what movements are important for setting up abdominal muscles that are the right length and strength. * For more information on childhood exploration and independent mobility, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/children-love-to-get-lost-what-happens * For more information on how sucking in your belly affects your health, see this article: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/should-kids-suck-their-bellies-in My…
People in this episode
Hosts: Guen Bradbury, Greg Dickens
Topics covered
- childhood exploration
- independent mobility
- upper body strength
- SSRI antidepressants
- sugar and metabolic syndrome
- abdominal muscle health
Keywords
- childhood exploration
- independent mobility
- upper body muscles
- SSRI antidepressants
- metabolic syndrome
- abdominal muscles
- health research
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: SSRI, Western health, South American communities, African communities
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