The Wire with Manny

New research shows providing vegetables as an infant’s first food is an effective strategy for improving intake and may help children to develop a preference for vegetables.

The study by Massey University Human Nutrition PhD student Dr Jeanette Rapson suggests providing vegetables as first foods increased a baby’s intake of vegetables at nine months of age.

The results of this trial suggest that the start of complementary feeding is an ideal time to introduce vegetables as a first food since infants are willing to try new foods, even those with more bitter tastes such as green vegetables.

Emilia Sullivan spoke to Dr Jeanette Rapson.

This week on the Tuesday Wire Casper and Emily were joined remotely by Marcus Jones who caught them up on the latest science news. Casper had his weekly chat with the National Party’s Dr. Shane Reti, talking this week about the elective surgery waiting list.

Casper also spoke to Len Cook, the former government statistician, about the dangers of a proposed Data and Statistics bill.

Emily spoke with Jason Young from the New Zealand China Resarch Institute about New Zealand’s relationship with China- past, present and future. She also chatted with Water Safety New Zealand’s Chief executive Daniel Gerrard about their new report on drownings in Aotearoa

The waiting list for elective surgeries has skyrocketed in the last year, with many experts pointing towards ongoing workforce shortages as the cause.

Thousands of people on the waiting list are in intense, ongoing pain, requiring essential operations such as hip or knee replacements.

For Casper's weekly catchup with the National party’s Dr. Shane Reti, they discussed the causes of the growing waiting list and the National party’s proposed solutions to the problem.

A Water Safety New Zealand report has revealed ninety people died by drowning just last year, the worst year for drowning fatalities since 2011.

Emily chatted with Water Safety New Zealand’s Chief executive Daniel Gerrard about the report’s findings and risk factors associated with drownings in Aotearoa.