Abstract
Focusing on the health and wellbeing of our children is the most important investment Australia can make.
Australia is similar to other wealthy Western democracies for many aspects of child and youth health and wellbeing but, despite our material wealth, Australian rates of vaccination, obesity, child abuse and neglect do not compare well, and youth unemployment and the gap between rich and poor are increasing.1,2 Canadian researchers suggest that an unwanted outcome of economies focusing heavily on wealth creation is an impoverishment of the health and wellbeing of children, which will affect adult health and the human capability of nations — so-called modernity's paradox.
