Australian of the Year warns of growing youth health crisis
Jan 27 11:58
AAP
 

Professor Fiona Stanley, the newly-crowned Australian of the Year, on Monday warned of a growing health crisis for young people, particularly in the area of mental health.

A world leader in child health research, the Western Australian professor founded the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and was recognised on Saturday night for her services to public health.

Prof. Stanley warned the outlook for the health of children and teenagers was getting poorer.

"Our research ... is now showing that almost every single indicator that we have of child health, developmental problems, well-being of children is actually getting worse," she told the media.

"These aren't just things children will grow out of or something like that."

Some of the health trouble areas for children included mental health, asthma, type-1 diabetes, autism and bowel disorders.

"There is obviously some sort of genetic predisposition but also quite considerable environmental interactions with that genetic risk," Prof. Stanley said.

"Mental health problems are, I think, the things everyone is aware of going to be the 21st Century's major problem."

latest stories

Award winners celebrate Australia Day       Fears about housing downturn unlikely to be realised       Blix report to trigger debate rather than war: Downer       US praises Australia for troop deployment       Asians warn Iraq war means more terror

Australia index

multimedia

ICAP senior economist Michael Thomas Jan 22/04min46s Listen to audio