Developing Indigenous Children

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Introduction
Indigenous individuals have significant health inequities that diminish their quality of life, resulting in a reduced life expectancy in comparison to non-Indigenous counterparts. Lower education achievements, lower employment rates and lower incomes contribute to the socioeconomic burden (Wise 2013). Developing Indigenous children are at a greater disadvantage due to the risk factors originating from their environment. Their family, community and the exposure to early childhood development programs all dictate how the child develops and grows (Wise 2013). Promoting the development of Indigenous children is a complex task that involves multi-stakeholder interactions. Promoting physical, social and emotional concepts of development …show more content…

The interactions between a child and their environment influence their development and overall health and wellbeing. Positive parenting and disease prevention initiatives increase the likelihood of health outcomes of a child and set the stage for a healthy adult life (Smith 2011). Improving the health of Indigenous youth is identified as a national priority, to reduce the burden of illnesses associated with poor nutrition and physical activity. In early childhood, physical inactivity and poor nutrition lead to diseases, for instance, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and chronic heart conditions (Thurber et. al 2014). It has been found that the risk of developing these non-communicable diseases share a strong correlation with the determinants of health (Thurber et. al 2014). The social determinants of health can be classified as housing, education, availability of nutritious food, employment, social support and health services (Primary Health Care Research & Information Service …show more content…

Indigenous children have higher rates of obesity in comparison to non-indigenous children (Loring & Robertson 2014). This health issue begins in early development, so the priority direction needs to focus on preventing poor health and intervening at an early stage of the child’s life (Burrow & Ride 2016). Childhood obesity programs need to primarily target social and economic factors, rather than individual behaviour. Obesity causes a vast range of health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers (Loring & Robertson 2014). The burden of obesity contributes 16% of the health gap between those of Indigenous ethnicity and Australians (Australian Government 2013). This priority area is significant due to the outcome, obesity, as it is a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in Indigenous Australians (Burrow & Ride

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