Evidence-based reporting can be a parent's best friend

Summary

Podcast Summary: Consider This from NPR

Episode: Evidence-based reporting can be a parent's best friend
Date: August 8, 2026
Host: Rob Schmitz
Featured Guest: Maria Godoy (NPR Health Correspondent)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the challenge of navigating a flood of parenting advice and health information—often conflicting or misguided—in the digital age. NPR health correspondent and mother Maria Godoy joins host Rob Schmitz to discuss how evidence-based health reporting can help parents make practical, informed decisions for their children, especially around topics like vaccination, myopia, and misinformation. Maria draws on her dual perspective as both a science journalist and a parent to share insights, real-life reporting experiences, and advice for families feeling overwhelmed by the constant barrage of advice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Overwhelm of Parenting and Information Overload

• Opening Acknowledgement (00:00–00:36):

  • Rob introduces the immense pressure and responsibility of being a parent, especially regarding their child’s health.
  • Maria describes her personal anxiety as a new parent facing a confusing, often contradictory flood of information and advice:

    “There was like so much misinformation, like coming at me...I was like a bundle of nerves.” — Maria Godoy (00:29)

• Science as a Guide (00:45):

  • Maria shares how her journalism background led her to seek answers in science and evidence.

2. Evidence-Based Reporting: Case Studies

a. Addressing Childhood Myopia (Nearsightedness)

• Maria’s Inspiration (02:43–03:12):

  • Maria discusses rising rates of childhood myopia, especially during the pandemic, and her personal motivation, as her own child is affected.
  • She highlights a clear scientific finding:

    “There’s really strong evidence that for kids, spending two hours a day, every day outdoors can really prevent them from becoming nearsighted.” — Maria Godoy (02:55)

• Field Reporting Clip (03:28–03:46):

  • Maria observes kids playing outside in Silver Spring, Maryland, noting:

    “This outdoor playtime isn’t just good fun and exercise. Research shows it’s also key to preventing children from developing myopia or nearsightedness.”

• Actionable Takeaway:

  • Even after myopia develops, outdoor time can help slow its progression.

b. Sifting Through Health Guidance and Misinformation

• Filtering Relevant Advice (04:10–04:55):

  • Maria explains her process: focus on actionable, evidence-based information rather than transient or potentially harmful trends.
  • She cites CDC’s change in hepatitis B vaccine guidance as an example where deeper data matters for real-life decisions.

• Vaccine Hesitancy Context:

  • Maria details risks—hepatitis B can live on surfaces for 7 days; infection in infancy has serious, lifelong health consequences.

3. Parent Stories: Vaccination, Hesitancy, and Change

a. The Reality of Vaccine Concerns

• Reporting from South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak (05:29–07:27):

  • Maria interviews parents wary of vaccination, emphasizing empathy:

    “Every parent wants what’s best for their child...they’re just doing the best they can with the information they have.” — Maria Godoy (05:39)

• Margarita DeLuca’s Story (06:27–07:19):

  • Despite a local outbreak, DeLuca is hesitant to vaccinate her twins due to a past experience:

    “He like froze up and then he started convulsing right in my arms. The scariest thing ever.” — Margarita DeLuca (07:04)

  • Her pediatrician assures her the event wasn’t vaccine-linked, but she remains uncertain.

• Tracy Hobbs’ Experience (07:41–08:50):

  • Hobbs delayed shots for her twins due to autism fears linked to vaccines, referencing widely debunked connections still circulated in media:

    “So we were afraid that if we had gotten the kids the vaccines that it might actually cause autism. And that’s really messed up because what are you supposed to believe?” — Tracy Hobbs (08:06)

  • Confusion is fueled by conflicting information online and even official sources.

• Public Health Messaging (08:50–09:32):

  • Once Tracy learned about measles’ longer-term risks—like loss of immune memory—she chose vaccination. Maria emphasizes that clear, factual information can change minds.

4. The Broader Context: Forgotten Disease Risks

• Rob’s Reflection (09:32–10:07):
  • Many people, even doctors, have never seen diseases like measles due to vaccine success, leading to dangerous complacency:

    “Vaccines have fallen victim to their own success because people forgot how horrible the diseases they prevent can be.” — Maria Godoy (09:48)

5. Final Takeaways and Advice for Parents

• Maria’s Core Message (10:07–10:30):
  • Parents should be gentle with themselves amid uncertainty:

    “You’re gonna make mistakes. Just, you know, do the best you have with the information you have, but do give yourself grace, you know?” — Maria Godoy (10:19)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There’s really strong evidence that for kids, spending two hours a day, every day outdoors can really prevent them from becoming nearsighted.” — Maria Godoy (02:55)
• “Every parent wants what’s best for their child...they’re just doing the best they can with the information they have.” — Maria Godoy (05:39)
• “You have one person saying, hey, this could cause the kid to get autism. And then you have, you know, somebody saying, no...I’ve gotten conflicting information since the day they were born.” — Tracy Hobbs (08:40)
• “You’re gonna make mistakes...but do give yourself grace, you know?” — Maria Godoy (10:19)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–00:45: Introduction; parenting anxiety, info overload
• 02:43–03:12: The myopia reporting inspiration and science findings
• 03:28–03:46: Field report: outdoor play and myopia prevention
• 04:10–04:55: How Maria filters health news and approaches CDC guidance changes
• 05:29–07:27: Vaccine hesitancy explored through South Carolina stories
• 07:41–08:50: Autism fear and vaccine misinformation—debunked, but still persistent
• 08:50–09:32: How science-based public health messaging changed a parent’s mind
• 09:32–10:07: Why diseases seem less scary today—and the hidden risk of forgetting
• 10:07–10:30: Maria’s advice: give yourself grace as a parent

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Conclusion

This episode underscores how evidence-based, empathetic journalism can be a critical tool for parents navigating the noise of modern health advice and misinformation. Maria Godoy’s approach—grounded in science but sensitive to parental fears and real-life dilemmas—offers a model for both accurate reporting and compassionate guidance. The episode closes by encouraging parents to seek trustworthy information, make the best choices they can, and practice self-compassion along the parenting journey.

Transcript

[Rob Schmitz]

It's consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story. If you know, you know, being a parent is probably one of the hardest jobs around.

[Maria Godoy]

You have this perfect little human and you think, wow, I made this. And also, oh my gosh, I'm going to mess him up completely.

[Rob Schmitz]

Suddenly making decisions about another human's health, what they eat, how much they sleep, whether they're getting enough exercise, how much screen time they're getting, all, all that while facing a near constant stream of advice.

[Maria Godoy]

There was like so much misinformation, like coming at me and information and I was trying to figure out like what to do. I was like a bundle of nerves.

[Rob Schmitz]

That's NPR's health correspondent Maria Godoy describing her own experience becoming a parent. She says that uncertainty helped shape the way she approaches her reporting.

[Maria Godoy]

I'm also a journalist. Like, hey, there are answers in, you know, science can help you answer some of these questions.

[Rob Schmitz]

Consider evidence based child health reporting like Maria's helps parents make decisions and find practical strategies without feeling overwhelmed by today's often confusing headlines. From npr, I'm Rob Schmitz.

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[Rob Schmitz]

It's Consider this from npr. As a science correspondent who's also a mom, Maria Godoy works to translate complex health news so parents can get their questions answered without feeling shamed or judged. I started by asking her if there was a question from her own life as a parent that inspired her work.

[Maria Godoy]

There's a rise in childhood myopia and it was all tied to the pandemic. And my own kid has nearsightedness and a lot of It. So, like, digging into the science, what I found out is like, really there's a strong tie between exposure to being outdoors and sunlight. Like, there's really strong evidence that for kids to spending two hours a day, every day outdoors can really prevent them from becoming nearsighted. And it has to do with the way the eye grows.

[Rob Schmitz]

Wow.

[Maria Godoy]

And so.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Right, right.

[Rob Schmitz]

I did not know that.

[Tracy Hobbs]

Right.

[Maria Godoy]

No, it's huge and it's hugely important. And so when you think about the rise globally of myopia during the pandemic, it's because a lot of kids were spending more time indoors.

[Rob Schmitz]

Right. So you spent a lot of time going out and meeting kids and families as part of your reporting. Let's hear a bit of that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

On a sunny weekday afternoon, a group of elementary school age kids play tag at a park in suburban Silver Spring, Maryland. This outdoor playtime isn't just good fun and exercise. Research shows it's also key to preventing children from developing myopia or nearsightedness.

[Maria Godoy]

So, like, that's sort of evidence based reporting. Once they have myopia, you have to do other interventions. But like, still spending time outdoors can help slow it down.

[Rob Schmitz]

So parents today are bombarded with health advice from social media influencers, you name it. When you're reporting a story, how do you decide what information parents actually need versus just filtering out the noise?

[Maria Godoy]

Yeah, you know, so I ask myself, like, what do you need to know to keep your kids healthy and safe?

[Narrator/Reporter]

What are they being exposed to?

[Maria Godoy]

Is there actionable information that, you know, I can provide that can help you make better decisions as a parent? Or is there like misinformation or changing guidance out there that might actually be harmful? So I think of like, over the last year, the CDC changed its guidance against universally vaccinating all newborns against hep B. Right, right. Instead, it advised to only routinely vaccinate newborns born to women who were positive for hep B or if they were unscreened. But when you look at the evidence before, there was universal recommendation. Like around 18,000 kids a year used to become infected before the age of 10. And half of them got it, like, not from their moms, but from other

[Narrator/Reporter]

sources like daycare or sports teams.

[Rob Schmitz]

Right.

[Maria Godoy]

Because this virus can live on a surface for up to seven days. And you know, if you get infected as an infant, there's a lot of risk. Like once you get infected, there's no cure. And it can raise the risk of things like liver cancer and death. And those risks are really a lot higher. Like for People who are infected as infants. And so knowing that is really important for parents.

[Rob Schmitz]

Yeah, I mean, as you mentioned, I mean, there's a lot of hesitancy now among parents about whether to vaccinate or not. How do you deal with this in your work?

[Maria Godoy]

You know, this came up when I went to South Carolina earlier in the year and to report on the large measles outbreak there. And I really went wanting to talk to parents to figure out their views on why they chose to vaccinate or not. And really when I approach that, I always try to start from the perspective that every parent wants what's best for their child. Right. And they're just doing the best they can with the information they have. And so, and remembering what it was like for me to be a confused new parent. And so when I talk to people, I try to get that perspective and figure out where are you getting your information, where are you getting your misinformation, you know, like, why do you feel how they feel? And a lot of the vaccine hesitant parents I talk to, even though their conclusions were not science based, I saw where they were coming from. Like in one case it was a woman whose son had sort of a seizure within a week of getting a vaccine.

[Margarita Deluca]

Go buckle up. Okay.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We meet Margarita Deluca as she's strapping her 4 year old son and 6 month old twins in into the car. They're headed to daycare.

[Margarita Deluca]

They're always asleep by the time we get there.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Despite living in a region that's experiencing a big measles outbreak, DeLuca has not vaccinated her twins against measles.

[Margarita Deluca]

I'm not worried about it, but even if they did catch it, we'll take care of it. We'll take care of it at home.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A big factor in her reluctance to vaccinate comes from personal experience. She got her eldest son Nico vaccinated with routine shots for his first couple of years of life. But about a week after he got his two year old shots, Nico spiked a fever and experienced a seizure.

[Margarita Deluca]

He like froze up and then he started convulsing right in my arms. The scariest thing ever.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Nico recovered. Her pediatrician told her these seizures can happen when toddlers get high fevers and it's unlikely vaccines played a role. But deluca remains dubious.

[Margarita Deluca]

He hasn't had any seizures since, but he hasn't had no vaccines either. I'm not saying it's from that, but there is a chance.

[Maria Godoy]

I met another person at a vaccine clinic and her older son had autism and so she said she heard that vaccines cause autism, and so she didn't vaccinate her younger children until the measles outbreak came out.

[Tracy Hobbs]

They just got their measles monstrobella for the first time today.

[Narrator/Reporter]

That's Tracy Hobbs. She just emerged from the mobile clinic with her five year old twins, Joseph and Alice.

[Tracy Hobbs]

Joseph, here now, please.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The twins should have gotten their first shots around 12 months of age, but Hobbs decided against it at the time. That's because her oldest child, now 7, was diagnosed with autism shortly after he got his first measles shot.

[Tracy Hobbs]

So we were afraid that if we had gotten the kids the vaccines that it might actually cause autism. And that's really messed up because what are you supposed to believe?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Claims linking the vaccine to autism stem from a 1998 study that has been found thoroughly debunked by a large body of research. But this misinformation still circulates widely. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has long promoted the discredited claim and he recently directed the CDC to change its website to say the link cannot be ruled out. Hobbs says it's confusing.

[Tracy Hobbs]

You have one person saying, hey, this could cause the kid to get autism. And then you have, you know, somebody saying, no, you know, I've gotten conflicting information since the day they were born.

[Maria Godoy]

When the public health messaging there started to focus more on the sort of the long term outcomes of measles infection. So even if your infection is relatively mild, and mild can be miserable. Right. Like kids are sensitive to light fever and achy, there's longer term repercussions like the fact that any measles infection will wipe out some part of your immune memory for a couple of years, which means you're vulnerable to things that you've already been exposed to. And so once that science based messaging came out, she changed her mind and went and vaccinated her kids. Right. So it's understanding she was trying to protect her kids from a threat that she thought was there. But once she got the information, she, you know, the right information, she changed her mind.

[Rob Schmitz]

What you just mentioned brings up an interesting point, like the idea here that a lot of folks, they might think that they're pretty informed on vaccinations from social media or wherever they're getting their information. But a lot of folks actually don't know what it is to have measles.

[Maria Godoy]

Oh, right, absolutely. Because, I mean, and even until recently, a lot of doctors had never seen it. They just sort of heard about it in med school and, you know, you hear a lot doctors say a lot it's sort of the problem is vaccines have fallen victim to their own success because people forgot how horrible the diseases they prevent can be.

[Rob Schmitz]

At the end of the day, what do you hope parents take away from your reporting?

[Maria Godoy]

That they should give themselves grace. But you know, like, I think thank you.

[Rob Schmitz]

That's the first thing I wanted you to say, actually.

[Maria Godoy]

I, I mean, like, it's hard, you know, it's overwhelming. You're gonna make mistakes. Just, you know, do the best you have with the information you have, but do give yourself grace, you know?

[Rob Schmitz]

That is NPR's Maria Godoy. Maria, thank you so much.

[Maria Godoy]

My pleasure, Rob.

[Rob Schmitz]

This episode was produced by Lena Muhammad and Vincent Accovino. It was edited by Jeanette Woods. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.

[Maria Godoy]

FOREIGN.

[Rob Schmitz]

It's consider this from npr. I'm Rob Schmitz.

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