Aussie Kids are Fat and Anxious

Article from: Aussie kids are fat and anxious - By Susie O'Brien
May 16, 2007 07:30am

'New morbidity' as kids' health problems change
Kids more likely to need mental help than physical
Waiting lists of up to five months

OBESITY, anxiety and depression have replaced measles and mumps as the most common childhood illnesses, doctors report. In what is dubbed the "new morbidity", Australian children are now more likely to see a doctor for mental health, sleep and weight problems and behavioural disorders rather than broken bones or infectious diseases. And many more children, including babies and toddlers, are presenting to doctors with a multitude of conditions. Figures compiled by the Centre for Child and Community Health for the Herald Sun show:

· One in five school-age children has behavioural problems.
· One in five babies has crying problems and almost half have sleep problems.
· One in 100 toddlers/pre-schoolers has autism or some autistic disorder.
· One in four toddlers/pre-schoolers has more than one behavioural problem.
. One in four adolescents is obese.

However, waiting lists for specialised treatment at public hospitals can be up to five months. And private clinics, where waiting lists are just a few weeks, can leave parents $100 a visit out of pocket. Dr Harriet Hiscock, a pediatrician and senior research fellow from the Centre for Community Child Health, said medicine had been "very good at treating common childhood diseases". "There used to be wards full of measles, mumps and rubella, but largely through antibiotics we've gotten rid of a lot of infectious diseases," she said. "Instead, now we are treating a lot of things such as obesity, allergies, depression, sleep problems and anxiety that have mostly always been there but we are much more aware of these days.

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