A picture of Australia's Children

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has just released A picture of Australia's Children 2009.

This report delivers the latest information on how, as a nation, we are faring according to key indicators of child health, development and wellbeing. Death rates among children have fallen dramatically, and most children are physically active and meet minimum standards for reading and numeracy.

But it is not all good news. Rates of severe disability and diabetes are on the rise. Too many children are overweight or obese, or are at risk of homelessness, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children fare worse on most key indicators.

As regards dental indicators (see Chapter 10, pp.38-40):

• There are rising rates of dental decay among 6 year olds;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are far more likely to be disadvantaged across a broad range of health and socioeconomic indicators. The mean number of decayed, missing or filled teeth for Indigenous 6 year olds was 4.8 (dmft) and among
  12 year olds was 1.8 (DMFT). On average, Indigenous children had more decayed, missing or filled teeth than non-Indigenous children (2.6 and 1.8 times as many for 6 and 12 year olds, respectively). The proportion of children decay-free at age 6 years was much lower for Indigenous children (21% compared with 54% for non-Indigenous children)
  and was also lower at age 12 years (48% compared with 60% for non-Indigenous children).—2–3 times as likely to have dental caries;
• Children living in remote areas have worse dental decay than those in major cities.