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Editorial
Welcome to the Back to School edition of the HealthInsite newsletter and, as usual, a special welcome to any new subscribers! In this edition, we will help you to find information on issues of practical interest at this time of year when children and young people have headed back to the classroom. The issues that we will be focussing on are nutrition, immunisation, and child development (the younger years).
The Operational Review of HealthInsite has been completed, and we're now moving to implement a number of improvements and enhancements to the information and services available to you. We will keep you posted about different initiatives throughout the year. I would like to welcome Jo Perri to our Editorial team, and to farewell Julie Bate (hopefully briefly, although I'm not optimistic!), who has been of tremendous assistance to me in undertaking the policy and communications work for HealthInsite.
You will see that I've asked for users of the site to provide us with any anecdotes regarding HealthInsite's usefulness in this edition's Your Feedback column. The team here is always looking for ways to make improvements to the site, so I would also urge you to e-mail or telephone us with any ideas along these lines that you might have.
I trust that 2007 finds you all safe and sound and the team here looks forward to keeping you coming back in ever increasing numbers!
Cheers
Bryn
Nutrition
Nutrition can be an anxious subject for some parents because of the worry about whether your child is eating enough good food, or whether there is a problem with overeating or becoming unhealthy. The following guidelines and tools may help you understand how to best help your child:
Nutrition and fitness: basics http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/nutrition_toolkit.html/context/217
More children are overweight today than ever before. There is a greater variety of food available, and increasingly sophisticated advertising is targeted at getting children to eat different products, some of which are more likely to cause excessive weight gain. Being overweight can cause problems for children both in terms of their physical health, and in terms of their mental and emotional health.
Kids Eat Kids Play is a national survey of nutrition and physical activity that will involve 4,000 Australian children between the ages of 2 and 16. The survey will identify the proportion of children who meet current national guidelines for healthy eating and physical activity, and thereby provide up-to-date estimates of rates of overweight and obesity among Australian children. It will also provide valuable data about nutrient deficiency or excess (eg. children not getting enough calcium in their diets for adequate growth and development), about the quantities of fast food and soft drinks consumed, and will inform the development of government policy. More information is available at http://www.kidseatkidsplay.com.au/
Increasing overweight and obesity is a worldwide phenomenon, and people who are overweight or obese are more likely to have health problems. Helping young children to develop good eating patterns and enjoyment from sport and exercise may help them avoid later health problems. The aim of managing weight, either yours or your children's, is to be healthy. This means adopting a more holistic approach to lifestyle which includes exercise, and not just a focus on weight loss. While it is important not to be too worried about children's weight at an early age, if your child is very overweight compared with others of the same age, then you should organise for a medical check to see that there are no underlying problems and get some help with healthy eating and exercise.
Children's Feelings
It is very important to ensure that your child has a healthy self esteem. Everyone is different and it is not only thin people who are attractive.
References and further reading
Childhood Obesity NSW
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/obesity/
Childhood Obesity Summit in NSW, September 2002 http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/obesity/adult/summit/summit.html
World Health Organization 'Obesity'
http://www.who.int/health_topics/obesity/en/
HealthInsite has topic pages on:
Self Esteem in Childhood
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Self_Esteem_in_Childhood
Self Esteem in Young People
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Self_Esteem_in_Young_People
HealthInsite Information Partners dealing with Nutrition
Nutrition Australia
http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/
Healthy Eating Club
http://www.healthyeatingclub.org/
Building a Healthy Active Australia
http://www.healthyactive.gov.au/
Immunisation
Immunisation can protect your child against harmful diseases that can cause serious complications and sometimes death. If your child hasn’t been immunised or has missed a vaccination, it’s easy to catch up - just ask your doctor or immunisation provider.
The Australian Childhood Register (the Immunisation Register) is a national register administered by Medicare Australia that records details of vaccinations given to children. Children under seven years of age and enrolled in Medicare are automatically listed on the Immunisation Register. If your child isn’t enrolled in Medicare, they will be added to the Immunisation Register once Medicare receives their immunisation details from your doctor or immunisation provider.
The benefits of the Immunisation Register are that you can get a copy of your child's immunisation details at any time. These details can help with eligibility for some Australian Government family assistance payments, including the Australian Government’s Child Care Benefit and Maternity Immunisation Allowance. You are automatically sent an immunisation history statement when your child turns one, two and five years of age. In addition, health professionals can track immunisation levels in Australia and monitor disease outbreaks.
It’s important to keep your child’s most recent immunisation history statement so you can use it when proof of immunisation is needed. For example, you can use your child’s statement to meet immunisation requirements for school enrolment in NSW, ACT, and Victoria. Look out for a sentence at the bottom of your statement that says your child has received all vaccinations required by five years of age.
HealthInsite has a topic page on:
Immunisation and Vaccine Preventable Diseases
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Immunisation_and_Vaccine_Preventable_Diseases
Child Development
All children develop at different rates and in different ways. Differences in social and emotional development result from a child’s inborn temperament, cultural influences, abilities and disabilities, behaviours modelled by adults, the level of security felt in a child’s relationships with adults, and the opportunities provided for social interaction.
- Development is a journey, not a race.
- Try not to worry about how your child is developing compared with others.
- Notice your child's progress and what he can do now, compared with what he used to do.
- If you are really concerned, get your child checked.
- Ask questions. Ask about what you can do to help your child, and ask about what other help is available to you and your child.
Source/s:
Raising Children Network (http://raisingchildren.net.au/)
Child and Youth Health (http://www.cyh.com/)
HealthInsite has a topic page on:
Child Development
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Child_Development
We always welcome feedback on our services, so if you have any comments, questions, or general remarks on how we are going, please don't hesitate to email us at:
healthinsite.feedback@health.gov.au
Only a two month gap this time, so I'm getting better! Expect the next edition soon after the autumnal equinox and until then, please take care of yourselves...
Best wishes
Bryn
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