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Canberra Today 12°/15° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Canberra kids doing well, more or less

ACT kids are doing well compared to other parts of the country, according to figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

child-immunisation
93.4 per cent of ACT children are fully immunised at age 2.
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has pointed out a list of positive results from the AIHW’s latest child health and education indicators.

“While there are areas in the report which have highlighted the need for continued focus, it also shows very good results for attendance by children in early education programs, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children,” Ms Gallagher says.

Canberra’s youngest children had the highest performance in Australia in early childhood education programs, and more local year 5 students achieved above the minimum literacy and numeracy standards in 2012 than in any other state or territory.

The ACT also had the highest rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children attending an early education program in the year before beginning primary school.

While the Territory recorded the smallest overall percentage of infants with low birth weight in Australia, it also had the 4th highest rate for low birth weights amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies.

In a measure that aims to close this gap, Ms Gallagher points to an ACT Government tobacco cessation strategy which is targeted towards the indigenous community, because there is a strong correlation between low birth weights and smoking in pregnancy.

Substantiated child abuse and neglect of children aged 0-12 is at or below the national average, but the figures also show a “potential rise in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander notifications during the same period”, according to the Chief Minister’s office.

On a more positive note, ACT children have the lowest rate of tooth decay and second lowest rate of missing or filled teeth, and 93.4 per cent are fully immunised at 2 years of age, above the national average.

The ACT also has the lowest overall teenage birth rate in Australia, and the second-lowest rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers.

Ms Gallagher also reports that deaths of infants aged less than 1 year are around the national average, and the number of injury related deaths for children aged 0-14 years is in line with the national average, “despite the Canberra Hospital being the tertiary regional centre”.

The figures also show there is more work to do in addressing childhood obesity amongst boys aged 5-9 years, but that we are performing above the national average for girls aged 10-14 years.

 

 

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