Call for a Interdisciplinary collaboration collaborative large scale survey on mental and physical well-beeing of children.

We are embarking on a groundbreaking project to understand and improve the mental and physical well-being of children globally. Our goal is to conduct a large-scale, multilingual survey that captures diverse parental insights, identifies gaps in knowledge, and dispels common myths. This survey will inform the development of targeted resources, such as books, workshops, and social media campaigns, to support parents in nurturing healthy, well-rounded children. In simple terms, our project aims to identify the gaps in parents' knowledge and skills so that we can help them better support their children's growth and development. By addressing these gaps, we hope to reduce adversities and health issues that children currently face. With increasing rates of conflicts, ADHD, cardiovascular, behavioral problems, as well as difficulties in forming relationships etc., it is crucial to look into preventing these in the future. This will help ensure that children grow up healthier and more resilient. The primary goal of this project is to first of all conduct a large-scale, multilingual survey to gather insights from parents. By identifying current knowledge, gaps, missing information, myths, lack of information etc. With the outcome everyone can use this information for their work, talking to governments etc… I am teaching at Webster University Vienna and I am planning to propose it to my university for academic authority, peer review, research resources, research funding /grant application, ethical oversight etc..

Project Vision and Goals:

1. Purpose: To understand parents' current knowledge and practices regarding child mental/physical health and development. And what the barrier is to educating themselves or working on their past before having children.
2. Goal: To use the survey data to inform and develop comprehensive resources that address identified gaps and misconceptions. Create programs that foster what children need to have a low Ace-Score in the future and reduce conflicts and health issues in the future. This will ultimately help improve the well-being of children through better-informed parenting and also help us safe our climate.

Why This Project Matters:

• Impact on Children: Transgenerational experiences, pregnancy, birth and early childhood experiences significantly influence long-term mental and physical health. Studies, such as the ACE study, have shown how critical early interactions are.
• Empowering Parents: By providing parents with the right knowledge and tools, we can help them create a nurturing environment for their children.

Your Role and Contribution: • Collaborate to create comprehensive and relevant survey questions that cover various aspects of parenting, such as mental and physical health, the impact of stress during pregnancy, and parental self-reflection. • Ensure the questions are clear, unbiased, and culturally sensitive. • Writing a proposal to get funds for our survey and the report we want to write after receiving answers so it can be a base that programs can come out of it. • Translate the survey into multiple languages to reach a diverse audience. Ensure translations are accurate and culturally appropriate. • Survey Distribution: Help distribute the survey widely through your networks, including social media, parenting forums, and collaborations with relevant organizations. • Encourage participation to ensure a robust sample size. If you have large networks that helps or connections to United nations, Unicef, WHO, Red Cross, Center for disease control and prevention etc…

Practical Considerations:

• We will use an online survey platform that supports multiple languages (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Typeform.
• Sample Size: To ensure statistically significant results, we aim for a large number of participants, not only a couple of hundred respondents. Larger sample sizes will provide more reliable and generalizable data. Plus the funding will be easier.

Next Steps: If you are interested to participate please send me an e-mail to: office@kelaridis.at by latest 06.01.2025. You will receive an E-Mail from me with a couple of questions. Let’s work together to make a meaningful impact on the well-being of future generations. Your expertise and active participation are crucial for the success of this project. I look forward to collaborating with you all on this important initiative. The more different professions, countries and people join in this project the greater the outcome will be for children!

Best regards, Magdalena Kelaridis, MA Expert in Epigenetics, Pre-and Perinatal Sciences