For a frank witness to the perils of early translational experiment, look no further than Fellow of the Royal Society and navy man Samuel Pepys, who remarked ruefully of the experience, “It had no effect all the time we sat there”.

Lack of services is routinely given as a symptom of poor neighborhoods and a cause of their problems, but Australian research has found little to support the argument that it has much effect on child outcomes. Parents' sense of belonging and their perceptions about safety and the general state of their surroundings seem to make more difference.

Research from the UK Medical Research Council suggests that targeting teenage parents – fathers as well as mothers – with family-based lifestyle interventions is likely to have lasting health benefits, including a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

Triple P stands for Australian prevention scientist Matt Sanderss Positive Parenting Program. With it comes bundled an ethos designed to sustain the collaborative efforts of confident, positive practitioners. As he explained to childrens services workers in Birmingham UK yesterday, the benefits of a universal program should be universal.

Local assessment of childrens needs as a basis for service design isa legal requirement in most of the UK, but that doesnt guarantee they are done consistently or that policy makers make the best use of the data. A new survey suggests that they arent and they dont.

The Australian creator of Triple P the Positive Parenting Program - will be in Birmingham today to advise and encourage practitioners who are piloting his early intervention strategy in the UKs second city. The visit coincides with a US report which shows for the first time how well-designed, population-wide parenting support not only enhances child development but also reduces cases of child maltreatment.

Researchers in Missouri recommend a combination of family-based and school-based interventions to protect children against the long-term damage done by poor parenting in the classroom as well as at home.