The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has reported that while the health of children is generally faring well across the country, there is room for significant improvement in several areas.

 

The AIHW published its Hardline indicators for children’s health, development and wellbeing, 2011 which tracks various health indicators of children aged between 0-12 across a field of 12 to 19 nationally agreed priority areas such as health, early learning and care, family and community.

 

‘Internationally, Australia’s performance was better than the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) average based on data for infant mortality, low birthweight, dental health, injury deaths and teenage births,’ said AIHW spokesperson Dr Fadwa Al-Yaman.

 

‘However, there is still room for Australia to improve in comparison to the top OECD countries.’

 

The report found ‘considerable variation’ among the states and territories for some of the indicators, with some population groups, particularly Indigenous, remote and socioeconomically disadvantaged children recording the lowest rates of child health.

 

Children living in remote areas experienced poorer outcomes across many indicators compared to children in major cities. They were 40–50% less likely to meet minimum literacy and numeracy standards, and 30% more likely to be born with low birthweight or to be overweight or obese in childhood. They were also twice as likely to die as infants.

 

‘Children living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas also experienced significantly poorer outcomes. They were 1.7 times as likely to be overweight or obese than children living in the highest socioeconomic status areas, and 1.3 times as likely to be born with low birthweight,’ Dr Al-Yaman said.

 

The full report can be found here