Connect
MJA
MJA

A picture of Australia’s children

George C Patton, Sharon R Goldfeld, Indrani Pieris-Caldwell, Meredith Bryant and Graham V Vimpani
Med J Aust 2005; 182 (9): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06778.x
Published online: 2 May 2005

Do we have a clear enough picture to guide rational health and social policy responses?

Australia’s economic prosperity has long brought incremental health gains through better living conditions, sanitation, education, medical care and vaccination.1 The effects on child health and mortality have been striking. The latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), A picture of Australia’s children, documents this continuing trend. Infant and child mortality rates halved again in the past 20 years.2 The fall in deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) to a third of 1991 rates is a tribute to outstanding Australian child health research, as well as the work of child and family health nurses and the SIDS Council of Australia.3 A steady decline in deaths from injury in later childhood has also contributed to lower childhood mortality. Judged by these indices, the present generation of Australian children is the healthiest ever.


  • 1 Centre for Adolescent Health, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 3 Children, Youth and Families Unit, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, ACT.
  • 4 Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW.


Correspondence: 

  • 1. McMichael T. Human frontiers, environments and disease. Past patterns, uncertain futures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
  • 2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. A picture of Australia’s children. Canberra: AIHW, 2005.
  • 3. Dwyer T, Ponsoby AL, Newman NM, Gibbons LE. Prospective cohort study of prone sleeping position and sudden infant death syndrome. Lancet 1991; 337: 1244-1247.
  • 4. Demo DH, Allen KA, Fine MA. Handbook of family diversity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
  • 5. Salmon J, Telford A, Crawford D. CLASS study. Melbourne: Deakin University, 2004.
  • 6. Siegel DL, Coffey TJ, Livingston G. The great tween buying machine: capturing your share of the multi-billion-dollar tween market. Chicago: Dearborn Trading, 2004.
  • 7. Williams J, Wake M, Hesketh K, et al. Health-related quality of life of overweight and obese children. JAMA 2005; 293: 70-76.
  • 8. Graham H, Power C. Childhood disadvantage and adult health: a life course framework. London: Health Development Agency, 2004.
  • 9. Sawyer MG, Arney FM, Baghurst PA, et al. The mental health of young people in Australia. Canberra: Department of Health and Aged Care, 2000. Available at: http://www.mentalhealth.gov.au/resources/young/pdf/young.pdf accessed Apr 2005).
  • 10. Sanson A, Nicholson J, Ungerer J. Introducing the longitudinal study of Australian children. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2002. (LSAC Discussion Paper No. 1.) Available at: http://www.aifs.gov.au/growingup/pubs/discussionpaper1.pdf (accessed Apr 2005).
  • 11. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Counting kids: developing a new national collection for child care and preschool services. Canberra: AIHW, 2004. (AIHW Bulletin No. 22.).
  • 12. Bond L, Thomas L, Toumbourou J, et al. Improving the lives of young Victorians: measurement of risk and protective factors for young Victorians in their community, school, family and peers. Melbourne: Victorian Department of Human Services, 2000.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.