Donna Barker Communications

(Hint: it’s all in the way you feel)

My health column for the January issue of sharedVISION magazine.

This month I have to renew my driver’s licence and, in so doing, share personal information about my body with bureaucrats. Hair colour: brown. Height: 178 centimetres. Weight: 59 to 68 kilograms, depending on the time of year.

Truth be told, I’ve never owned a scale and don’t weigh myself often. But I do know that when I feel sexy in short skirts and tight T-shirts, I’m at the low end of what I consider my normal weight range. And that when my belly flab hangs over my belt, I’m at the high end. When I think my body looks best in clothes, I find my naked reflection scrawny with pointy edges: a breastless Twiggy. And when I hate how my size 13 jeans fit, I love the way I look naked: a Rubenesque beauty, baby!

All this got me to wondering what my perfect body weight should be. Continue Reading »

My goal in 2009 is to launch a website that provides balanced information without any fear-mongering either about the diseases that vaccines are said to protect kids from, or the vaccines themselves. Informed consent is impossible in an environment of fear.

The issue is one I’ve been passionate about for 13 years – since I was pregnant.

I spent several years trying to get a documentary film about the issue funded. In the end, after two broadcasters agreed to support the film, their legal departments intervened and killed the deals. So I let the idea go, believing it was not meant to be. But almost four years have passed, the landscape around this issue has changed, and my thinking has evolved.

So, Step One is to create an advisory committee with folks who have some credibility and interest in childhood immunizations and the legal side of informed consent.

I can do the vaccine and disease research on my own, my advisors can vet the content for tone and balance, but then I need to find some money to hire someone to build the website. That’s Step Two.

Giving myself a week to get my team in place. Anyone interested in participating is welcome to get in touch!