Public Health Information Development Unit - Children and young people at risk

Children and young people at risk

Pregnancy

Indicators:

Risk of poor pregnancy outcome (ages 15 to 24 years); Smoking in pregnancy (ages 15 to 24 years); Pregnancy rates (ages 15 to 24 years); Terminations of pregnancy (ages 15 to 24 years)

Context:

Women who experience teenage motherhood (15-19 years) are more likely to have poor socioeconomic outcomes over their lifetime; their high welfare dependency is undisputed, although there is ongoing debate regarding the causal effect of teenage motherhood in contributing to those poorer outcomes (Sung-Hee et al. 2008). Poor health is an important factor in increasing the probability of the welfare participation of women who have experienced teenage childbearing. Life outcomes for pregnant women aged 20 to 24 years are generally more likely to be better than those of their younger counterparts, if they have had the opportunity for further education, training and employment.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy results in higher risks of adverse outcomes for the baby before and after delivery, such as premature birth, miscarriage and perinatal death, poor intra-uterine growth and SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). These problems may affect children through to adulthood, including a higher risk of disability and developmental delay, learning problems, decreased lung function and increased respiratory illness.

Smoking in pregnancy by younger women is more prevalent among mothers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and among those who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin (Chan & Sullivan 2008).

Reference:

Sung-Hee J, Kalb G and Ha V 2008. The Dynamics of Welfare Participation among Women Who Experienced Teenage Motherhood in Australia. [Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 22/08] Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research: Melbourne.

Chan DL and Sullivan EA 2008. Teenage smoking in pregnancy and birthweight: a population study, 2001–2004. Med J Aust 188: 392-396.

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Child abuse or neglect

Indicators:

Notifications, repeat cases & substantiations of child abuse or neglect

Context:

The burden of complex and chronic family issues (such as low income, disability, substance abuse, mental health issue, family violence and unsupported sole parenting) may lead to children being notified to child protection authorities (VDHS 2002). Helping families to deal with these problems requires sustained intervention from agencies other than statutory child protection services. There is also a need for strengthened prevention and early intervention services, and better support for those children and young people with longer-term involvement in the child protection system (VDHS 2002). Rates of notifications for Aboriginal children are around twelve times those for non-Aboriginal children, indicating the relative socioeconomic disadvantage of Aboriginal families in South Australia.

Reference: Victorian Department of Human Services (VDHS). An integrated strategy for child protection and placement services. Melbourne: Community Care Division, VDHS, 2002.

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Overweight/ Obese

Indicators:	Four year old boys who are overweight (not obese); Four year old boys who are obese; Four year old girls who are overweight (not obese); Four year old girls who are obese
Context:	Overweight and Obesity in childhood can cause a range of physical and emotional health problems, and obesity increases the risk of premature illness and death in adulthood.
View:	maps data inequality graphs remoteness graphs correlations

Dental health

Indicators:

Twelve year old children with poor dental health

Context:

Dental decay and gum disease are costly health burdens, and yet, are also some of the most preventable health conditions. The oral health of children in South Australia has improved markedly over several decades, as a result of changes in diet and declines in sugar consumption, exposure to fluoride and changes in disease management. However, a minority of children still experience extensive decay and carry most of the burden of this disease (Armfield et al. 2003).

Reference:

Armfield JM, Roberts-Thomson KF and Spencer AJ 2003. The Child Dental Health Survey, Australia 1999: Trends across the 1990s. [AIHW Dental Statistics and Research Series No. 27]. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide.

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Disability

Indicators:

Children and young people with a disability (ages 0 to 24 years)

Context:

The likelihood of disability generally increases with age, but can also reflect people’s life cycle, their changing environments and the risks they encounter. Focusing on the age-specific prevalence rates of a severe or profound limitation, the peak in early childhood and school years may reflect the effects of early intervention services and the school environment on the identification of disability. Young adulthood may see the onset of psychiatric disabilities (AIHW 2007).

Community-based services provide support for children and young people with additional needs who live at home or with their family. Such services, if effective, enable these people to remain in the community - an important alternative to institutional care. However, if such supports and respite services are not readily available, the longer term consequences of caring for a child or young person with a disability may have deleterious effects on their parents’ and siblings’ physical and mental health, relationships, social and economic wellbeing, and other life opportunities, as well as also putting the child or young person at risk of poorer outcomes.

Reference: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2007. Australia’s welfare 2007. AIHW: Canberra.

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Deaths

Indicators:

Infant death rates; Deaths of children and young people (ages 1 to 24 years)

Context:

In 2007, there were 119 deaths of young South Australians aged 1 to 24 years. Many deaths in this age group are largely preventable. Deaths before the age of 10 years are related to injuries (such as drownings and traffic accidents) congenital conditions, and chronic conditions. Traffic accidents (30%), suicides (19%) and accidental poisoning (5%) are the leading causes of death in South Australians aged 10 to 24 years. Young South Australians aged 20 to 24 years are roughly four times likelier to die than an adolescent or younger child. Overall, male deaths outnumber those in females roughly two to one.

In Aboriginal children under five, mortality is falling, whereas it is rising in young Aboriginal adults, who die at a rate four times higher than other young Australians (AIHW 2007). Suicide rates are six times higher and traffic deaths four times higher in Aboriginal people aged 10 to 24 years. Violence is responsible for 7% of young Indigenous deaths, with females likelier to be victims. Marginalised populations, including young Indigenous people, young offenders or the young homeless have rates of death more like the Third World (Patton et al. 2009).

References:

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2007. Young Australians: their health and wellbeing. AIHW Cat. no. PHE 87. AIHW: Canberra.

Patton GC, Coffey C, Sawyer S, Viner RM, Haller DM, Bose K et al. Global patterns of mortality in young people: a systematic analysis of population health data. Lancet 374(9693): 881 – 892.