Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 9—Health 369
THE PRIVILEGE OF AGE
“Lor’ luv me, aint I dirty?”
“I’m a sight dirtier en you.”
“O! well, so yer orter be—yer
two years older en me.”
Source: The Bulletin Magazine
(originally published on
21 April 1900).
On the whole these increases were the result of
considerable environmental and social changes
early in the 20th century, with resulting
improvements in the health of mothers and
children.
Indigenous life expectancy was not available for
1901–1910, but in 1995–97 it was only 54.1 years
for males and 61.2 for females at birth—lower
than for all children born 100 years ago.
The social and economic environment around
1901 was harsh and difficult for many families;
many children were malnourished and likely to
die from infectious diseases such as
gastroenteritis and pneumonia. The considerable
social, educational and income changes over the
century (described in Centenary Articles
associated with Chapters 5 Population, 7 Income
and welfare and 10 Education and training),
together with the conscientious efforts of those
committed to improving maternal and child
health in the early decades by community
interventions, have had as much influence on
reducing deaths and illnesses in children as has
the extraordinary rise in knowledge in biomedical
science in later decades, with its resulting
improvements in diagnosis, treatments and
prevention of disease (particularly by mass
vaccination). In many ways, this last century has
been a glorious one in which to have been
involved as a child and public health professional.
While the perinatal and infant period is still
one of life’s most risky, the chances of
survival now are much higher than 100 years
ago, and once through to the end of the first
year, the risk of dying in childhood is very
low and only starts to rise again in older
teenagers (15–19 years old), particularly in
males. However, there is now possibly
excessive emphasis on using expensive
technologies to prevent death in children
who are severely compromised, with much
less effort into researching the antecedents
to prevent the conditions which lead to the
problems in the first place. And in later
childhood and adolescence, risks are
dominated by factors associated with lifestyle
and mental health problems which require a
complex range of preventive strategies over
many years.
This article is an overview of the changes in
some markers of child and adolescent health
throughout the 20th century and those
trends which have been most influential.
Many aspects will not be covered adequately
and some left out completely, due to
limitations of space and time. The hope is
that the messages about the most important
aspect of our future as a nation—the health
of our children—will be heard and
responded to.