William Atkins
Thursday, 25 September 2008 21:32
Science -
Health
Page 1 of 2
Australian population health expert Richard Eckersley claims Australian youth are not healthy, countering a conclusion from the Australian government that young people in Australia are healthier than they were in previous generations.
According to September 25, 2008 article in TheAustralian.news.com (“
Twenty-somethings fat and depressed),” the government has concluded that,
“young people today are much healthier than previous generations."
Dr. Eckersley, from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at Australian National University, counters this statement by saying,
“The death rates have dropped significantly and there seems to be an orthodox view that people are happier and healthier from self-reports…. But what I argue is that these are not the best representations, and what we really have is a steady deterioration in young people's physical and psychological health across a range of health measures for the past 20 years or more." [The Australian]
Eckersley claims in the article that 20-30% of young people in Australia have serious psychological distress, while 50% of them have less severe symptoms such as stomach aches, headaches, and insomnia.
He concludes that mental and physical disorders among Australian youth have increased over the past several generations. He makes special note of the serious rise of the incidences of diabetes and obesity.
The September 25, 2008 Canberra Times article “
Youth of today fat, nervy and depressed,” expressly claims in the title of its article that people under the age of 25 years in Australia are:
“fat, nervy and depressed.”
The article goes on to say that,
“Mental disorders accounted for almost half the burden of disease in the young population measured by both death and disability.”
Eckersley concludes,
"We've got to stop thinking of health as a matter of healthcare services and think about it more as a product of our way of life in the 21st century that we need to change." [The Australian]
Who is correct in their analysis: the Australian government or Dr. Eckersley? Please read on.
